


A Single Pebble

by NerdyKat



Series: SHIELD Redux [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Attempted Sexual Assault, Childhood Trauma, Family Bonding, Foster Care, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychologists & Psychiatrists, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2019-09-15 19:16:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 94,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16939137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyKat/pseuds/NerdyKat
Summary: Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects. – Dalai Lama“Miles and I ... we met when we were both a little screwed up. Scratch that ... he was a little screwed up, I was a lot.” - Skye, S01E05We all know Skye’s story. Alone and probably abused in foster care, living on the street for another eight, she came into SHIELD mostly scared, and a little angry at the world. But what if things had turned out different? What if SHIELD found her, or she found SHIELD, before Miles?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Skye's childhood was kinda messed up, and while we won't seen any flashbacks of it, it will be explicitly discussed. I won't be applying the Rape/Non-Con because it doesn't happen within the timeline of this story, however, if you feel compelled to hit the back button, I won't be insulted.

It had been a long week and Clint was more than ready to crash when he got to his D.C. apartment. Even though the sun was still high up in the sky, his jetlag was demanding dinner, then sleep. Given that he’d been up for over 24 hours on surveillance, Clint was fairly certain he could sleep for the next ten to twelve hours, then make an early start for home. The D.C. apartment didn’t have much more than squatter’s furnishing, but it had a mattress and a hot shower, which was everything he needed after the week that he’d had. Frankly, he would have settled for the shower. 

What he didn’t expect to find, as he entered the apartment, was a girl sleeping on his mattress like something out of Goldilocks. He knew it was a girl because she looked to be about twelve, though Clint knew that part of the appearance of her age was because of how absolutely skinny she was. It tugged at his heartstrings. He and Laura had started talking about having kids and he couldn't help but imagine if this girl were one of his. If she needed help, he wanted to give it to her. If, like Natasha, she had been trained as a weapon, he wanted to get her out. Cautiously, he approached his mattress, wondering how or if he should wake her. The girl didn’t stir. She was definitely alive and breathing thankfully and didn’t appear badly injured.

Finally, Clint stepped outside his apartment and pulled out his phone. “Coulson,” answered his handler on the other end of the line.

“Phil, it’s Clint,” Clint replied in a rush. “Listen, I think I’ve got a problem. There’s a girl in my bed.”

Clint could practically hear Coulson smiling. “That’s not usually an issue that gets reported, Barton.”

Clint stifled his groan. “Look, some teenage girl pulled a Goldilocks and is asleep in my bed and I don’t know what to do.”

That got Coulson’s attention, “Are you saying your location may be compromised?”

“Normally I’d say no,” Clint hesitated. “But considering how young Nat started…”

“Want me to send a team?”

“Can you… come over? I’m not entirely sure what this is and I want to be sure before we call in a STRIKE team that she’s not just a squatter.”

“I’ll be over in ten,” Coulson agreed. 

“Can you stop by that Szechuan place on M Street first?”

“You’ve got a possible assassin in your apartment and you’re asking me to stop for  _ Chinese _ ?” Clint could hear the eye roll in Coulson’s voice. 

Clint grinned broadly. “Two number twelves, a number four and a number two. Don’t forget the extra spring rolls,” he rattled off.

“Fine Barton, but you owe me,” Coulson groused.

After hanging up the phone, Clint heard movement in his apartment. Drawing a small knife, he let himself back in. The girl was awake and gathering her things - a laptop and some clothes. She spotted him and recoiled backwards. “Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was living here. I just needed a few hours shut eye. I can get out of your hair now,” she said softly. She stiffened when she saw the knife. And if he wasn’t mistaken, she cowered a little when he took a step forward.

“No, it’s fine,” Clint found himself saying, taking a step back to give her space and very slowly putting down the knife and kicking it away. She eyed it and him. He put both hands in the air. “Would you… would you like something to eat?”

The girl considered her answer a lot longer than Clint would have expected her to. Several seconds ticked by. “I…” she stammered. She looked close to tears, then closed her eyes and reddened heavily as she started pulling  _ off _ her clothes.

“Hey! Hey! No!” Clint objected, holding up both hands. The girl flinched, reddened further and stopped. Even in her camisole, Clint could see more than a few scars and bruises with varying degrees of fading. Some of the scarring had to be more than a decade old. “Look, I didn’t offer to feed you because I was expecting anything from you. I offered to feed you because you look hungry. Also, you look like you're about twelve. When’s the last time you  _ ate _ anything?”

The girl looked down at her hands. “C-c-couple days ago. ‘M fine. You don’t have to go through the trouble. I can survive on my own.”

“But I want to help,” Clint pleaded. 

“ _ Nobody _ wants to help,” the girl spat. Clint saw an extreme amount of pain in her eyes. “At least not for long.”

Clint took a deep breath and tried to center himself. It would do no good for the situation to escalate. This girl looked like she was in serious need of help. “I get it,” he agreed evenly, remembering his own first few years on the street. “Honestly I do. But you can only go so far on your own without accepting some help. It’s just food. No trouble. I was going to go pick something up myself. I’ve been gone for a week and there’s nothing in my fridge.” Underneath all the emotions he was seeing on the girl’s face was the smallest flicker of hope. 

Realizing that she was still in her camisole, she blushed again and furiously pulled on her plaid shirt. “Fifteen,” she clarified.

“I’m sorry?” Clint asked.

“I’m not twelve. I’m fifteen,” she repeated.

“Ah,” Clint remarked, unsure of how to respond. “I’m Clint, by the way.” 

“Skye,” she introduced, sitting down as close to the window with the fire escape as possible, body tensed and poised to run. On top of the pain, there was more fear in her eyes than he’d seen in anyone, save for Natasha. Someone had clearly hurt this girl. It made Clint’s blood boil. But he knew he had to help her now to exact revenge on them later.

“So what brings you to Washington, Skye?” Clint asked lightly. “Cherry blossoms?” He was rewarded with the barest hint of amusement.

A knock came sharply at the door, making Skye jump a mile. “It’s okay,” Clint murmured. “It’s just my friend bringing by the Chinese I ordered. Do you eat Chinese food?”

Skye nodded shortly, but still curled into herself, making herself as small as possible.

Clint got up and Skye flinched - actually  _ flinched _ \- at the movement. He kept an eye on Skye and projected his movements as he walked across the room and opened the door to let Coulson in. Clint signaled to him that there was no danger before he let Coulson across the threshold. Coulson had the bag of Chinese in one hand and his hand on his holster in the other. Clint blocked Coulson with his body and signaled for Coulson to hide the gun. Some instinct told Clint that that would not go over well. Especially after her tension about the knife.

“Skye, this is my friend Phil,” Clint shared carefully. 

Coulson, Clint knew, was a lot smarter than he looked and a perceptive sonovabitch. In two seconds Coulson had a read on the situation, probably one since Skye had missed a button and the edge of a hand-shaped bruise was showing on her collar bone.

“Your Chinese,” Coulson uttered easily to Clint. “That's 32.74 and don’t forget to tip.”

“Phil, this is Skye,” Clint introduced. The girl pressed herself into the wall behind her so hard that Clint was sure she was trying to move through it.

“Hey,” Coulson greeted with a kind smile.

Skye reminded Clint a bit of a wild animal in that moment. On one hand, she still curled into herself, looking like she expected Phil or Clint to hit her or worse. On the other, she leaned in at the smell of the food that Coulson had brought in. Like she was about to grab one the containers at any moment to devour it.

Clint got paper plates and plastic utensils out of storage and Coulson served some of everything onto three plates, serving Skye a smaller portion at Clint’s request. Both of them sat down and started eating when Clint signaled they should do so. Skye approached the table with caution, watching both men. She grabbed the plate Coulson had served for her and retreated to her corner, eating while she kept an eye on the rest of the room. She devoured the contents of her plate in half the time that it took Clint and Coulson, and she still stared at the remaining food like a starving animal. Coulson moved to serve her more on a new plate, but Clint stopped him. If something was really wrong, they shouldn’t feed her too much. 

“Can I ask you something?” Clint asked carefully. Skye froze, then nodded. “Why were you still asleep in the middle of the afternoon?”

“Cops ask questions if you’re out in the middle of the day,” Skye explained.

“Seriously?” Coulson asked. Clint could tell he was impressed and Clint had to admit he was too. That was a pretty smart move. 

Skye flinched at Coulson’s tone, grimaced, then shrugged. 

“Skye,” Clint began carefully. Skye stiffened. “I was hoping I could call another friend of mine to check you over. I promise she’s nice. We just want to make sure nothing’s wrong.”

Skye’s hands automatically went to her shirt, wrapping the plaid material around her tighter. After a long moment, Skye nodded minutely. 

Clint sent a text off to Bobbi, who had field medical training. She was the first person he thought of since they had just been on mission together, and she lived relatively nearby.

“Is there anyone we can call?” Coulson asked gently. “Anyone who might be looking for you?”

Skye let out a hollow laugh. “My own existence was covered up by a redacted SHIELD file when I was dumped at an orphanage as a baby. No one gives a damn about me.” Clint’s phone vibrated and Clint read the text from Bobbi that she’d be there in five minutes. Clint and Coulson shared a look. Clint could hardly believe his ears.  _ SHIELD _ had been involved in this girl being dropped at an orphanage? What were the chances she happened upon a SHIELD agent’s apartment? And  _ why _ ?

“Maybe a friend?” Coulson prodded again, sympathetically.

Skye shook her head, eyes welling up with tears. “I’m fine on my own,” she justified, unconvincingly.

“Uh huh,” Clint repudiated dryly. “That’s why I found you asleep in my bed in the middle of the day.”

“I’m sorry,” Skye apologized, getting up from where she still sat in the corner and made her way to the fire escape. “I’ll just… I’ll go.”

“No, don’t…” Clint dismissed in a rush. “I can help.”

Skye stopped crying. “What?” she asked in shock.

“I can help you find what you’re looking for. I don’t want to see you just disappear,” Clint begged, shocked that he actually meant it. Both Skye and Coulson stared at him. Skye in shock and disbelief, but also with that glimmer of hope he’d seen earlier, and Coulson with his patented you’re-in-over-your-head look. “Look, there’s no easy way to explain this, but I’m an Agent of SHIELD. I promise you that I’ve never heard of this redacted document, and I promise I’ll do everything I can to get to the bottom of it.”

Skye stiffened at the reveal, then chewed her lip for a moment before nodding. Clint breathed easier. If she didn’t trust the rest of SHIELD, she at least trusted him.

Coulson and Skye fell into a stiff, awkward small talk while Clint texted Bobbi, filling her in on the situation. Instead of knocking, Bobbi texted him when she arrived, since sudden noises startled Skye. Bobbi strode in once Clint opened the door and gave the studio apartment a once-over.

“Idiot, what have I told you about getting real furniture in here?” Bobbi ranted. “I don’t care if you entertain or not. You look like you’re a squatter. My husband decorated his place better than you.” Skye smiled a very tiny, very nervous smile for just a moment. “Now get out and give us some privacy,” Bobbi demanded, locating a hammer and nails underneath the sink and setting to work hanging up Clint’s sheets as a curtain across the windows as Clint and Coulson looked on in shock. After that was done, Bobbi grabbed each of them by the elbow and Clint found the door to his own apartment slammed in their faces.

“So, I’m Bobbi,” Bobbi introduced, sticking out her hand at Skye once she'd shoved the boys out the door. 

“Skye,” Skye replied shakily, taking it after a moment of hesitation. She quickly withdrew after a moment of contact. Bobbi didn’t appear to notice or care, brandishing a brash quality that Skye really liked. 

“I’m not a doctor,” Bobbi said bluntly. “I’m barely even certified as a field medic, so I can tell you with certainty that if there’s anything hinky I’m going to want to bring you to SHIELD to get you checked out.”

“I-” Skye hesitated. Her grip on her plaid shirt tightened. Doctors weren’t her favorite thing. Hospitals even less so. 

Bobbi’s face softened, seeming to automatically know why Skye hesitated. “How many placements?”

That surprised Skye. “Um… twenty-four? Twenty-five?” she guessed. She knew that number was high. She hadn’t spent six consecutive months in one spot in her life, though if you added it up she had spent two years of her life at St. Agnes’, which she supposed was sort-of a home, but not enough of one for her to call it that.

Bobbi nodded. “I went through three,” she shared. “There’s this scar on my shoulder I tell everyone I got in a bar fight, but actually I got it from a foster dad. I get it. You’ll get no judgement or pity from me. I just want to make sure that there’s nothing more serious we need to get checked out.”

Bobbi managed to coax her out of her shirt and camisole. Bobbi ran hands over bruises first. Skye hissed at one point over a particularly bad bruise on the left side of her ribcage where a drunk guy had hit her over some food a few nights prior. It had been killing her the past few days. “Yup, at least one of those is broken,” Bobbi declared matter of factly. Bobbi kept going, checking her back and finding a burn from a trash can fire that was at very least mildly infected.

Bobbi then had Skye take off her pants and cleaned the scrapes on her legs that Skye had gotten climbing fire escapes. After washing her hands, Bobbi thoughtfully picked out a spring roll and chewed it. “Okay, here’s the deal. All of this is your choice. You could bolt now and I wouldn’t stop you. That said, between the broken rib, the infected burn, and the malnourishment and dehydration I’m almost positive you have, I would like you to get checked out just to make sure that you’re not in any further danger.” 

Skye strongly considered bolting, but everything hurt, she was hot, and she was just  _ so _ tired. Almost without realizing it, she nodded.

“Okay, do you have a coat? Because it’s freezing outside,” Bobbi asked.

Skye looked over at her back where her ratty Columbia hoodie was sticking out of her bag and shook her head, blushing again.

“That’s okay, I think Barton has an extra,” Bobbi soothed gently, walking over to a closet. “Yup, here we go.” And Bobbi was pulling out a dark purple down coat.

“It’s really not necessary,” Skye protested softly.

“It’s below freezing outside,” Bobbi pointed out, helping Skye put the coat on. “Is that all you were wearing when you came in?”

Skye nodded, not realizing how cold she had been until she was in the coat. Bobbi felt her forehead. Skye closed her eyes and let herself lean into the cool fingers without really meaning to. It had been what felt like eons since someone had done this for her, and even if things were going to turn out bad, she couldn’t help but let herself enjoy things while they were good. She felt Bobbi wordlessly put an arm around her waist, steering her for the door. Skye thought about resisting, but was conflicted. 

Bobbi opened the door while Skye stood awkwardly, swimming in Clint’s coat. “She’s agreed to come in to SHIELD medical.” Clint and Coulson both looked relieved. Maybe she looked worse than she thought. Before Skye really knew what was happening, she was being shuffled into a black SUV with Bobbi bolstering her in the seat next to her. Unsure of how long it was going to take to get to SHIELD, Skye shut her eyes, promising herself it was just for a moment. But the pull of sleep was too strong, now that there was food in her stomach and she was warm for the first time in weeks.

Coulson drove them in with Clint in the passenger seat. “She said she has a redacted SHIELD document linked to her being dropped off at an orphanage,” Clint recalled softly, some of what he had learned in the last hour finally hitting him.

Coulson looked grimly back at Skye through the rearview mirror. Bobbi was absently finger-combing the girl’s hair. “I know,” he admitted. “Part of the reason why I agreed that it’s best to bring her into SHIELD was to get some answers.”

Thanks to Coulson’s agent level status, they got Skye admitted to medical right away.  She woke up briefly when the IV was inserted into her arm, crying out in fear while the medical staff kept her from hurting herself. Thankfully, she fell back asleep quickly after the pain medication was pushed into the drip. Clint breathed out air he hadn’t known he was holding in when the medical staff confirmed that Skye’s broken ribs hadn’t punctured anything. The infected burn would require excising and she was scheduled for the procedure for that evening. She had a fever, which was being carefully watched both because of the broken ribs and the burn, but overall, she was okay.

After all the scan and tests, the doctor finally gestured that they should follow her outside of Skye’s cubicle. Two nurses stayed behind to give her a sponge bath and to try to work out the rat’s nest of Skye's hair and also treated her for bedbug bites. Both Coulson and Bobbi had, to Clint's surprise, stayed. Coulson had located a USB drive around Skye’s neck that contained her redacted SHIELD file and was already emailing Fury about the situation.

“Ok, here’s what we know,” the doctor reported. “We scanned her body for other injuries and found evidence she’s broken approximately thirty bones at various points in the past, some of them twice, and one break is older than ten years. We’re running blood panels for other infections and to check general nutrition and her DNA against missing persons. So far we have no full or partial hits on any database worldwide. Fingerprints are currently being processed.”

“Was it abuse?” Coulson asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

The doctor sighed heavily. “Given your description of her behavior, I’d say she’s suffered from severe abuse at one point or another. How severe or what kind would take a licensed therapist.”

Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose. “So whatever the unredacted SHIELD document says, we’re the ones who sent her into her own personal hell with no way out.” Coulson observed sadly.

“Unfortunately, it's not unheard of for abuse cycles to happen in the foster system. You say she’s a possible SHIELD asset?”

To Clint’s surprise, Coulson nodded. “She managed to get her hands on a redacted SHIELD file. I’m not sure if it was her or someone she knows, but those are certainly skills we can use.”

“She said she’d been through twenty-five foster care placements,” Bobbi reminded them in awe. “If even half of them were bad placements, that’s twelve groups of people who abused her. That’s a new abusive foster home every fourteen months or so, not counting spending time at group homes, orphanages, or god knows how long she’s lived on the street.”

“Which is a while,” the doctor analyzed, nodding, “Three months, give or take, provided she was healthy at the beginning.”

Coulson’s phone beeped. He looked down at it and cursed. “This needs my attention. I’m going to call May and ask her to come down here. She’ll know the difference between questioning Skye and interrogating her like another senior agents might do, even on accident.”

“Isn’t it her mandatory week off?” Clint asked. 

“Yeah, I’ll owe her one,” Coulson justified. “I’ll talk to Fury about the document.”

“I’ll call Nat,” Clint offered. “It’s not the same thing, but the two of them…” 

“They might be able to help each other,” Coulson said, nodding, starting to walk in the direction of his office. He put his phone to his ear. “May, I need to ask you a favor…”

Clint turned back to the doctor. “Can I sit with her?” he asked. He didn’t know why but he felt responsible for her. She trusted him enough that she had come in to SHIELD.

The doctor nodded. “We’ve got her on some pretty heavy-duty pain meds for her ribs, but it’d be good to have someone watching her. She might panic and hurt herself if she wakes up and she doesn’t recognize where she is or anyone around her. We’re tracking down her medical files, checking in hospital systems across the country for any reports of girls matching her description coming in.” 

An aide came over and handed the doctor an extremely thick file. “Looks like we already have a hit. A Mary Sue Poots, ward of New York State,” she said, laying the file open so Clint and Bobbi could read as well. Thirteen hospital visits in Skye’s short lifetime, ten of which resulted in her being admitted. Clint’s blood boiled as he read about the catalogued cigarette burns, broken bones, concussions, cuts, and bruises over the years. Two hospital admissions confirmed sexual abuse, once where a foster brother managed to give her an actual skull fracture before they removed her from the home. Most agents didn’t have medical files as extensive as Skye’s. Clint knew this from experience, since he had the longest medical file of any STRIKE agent, and his didn’t come close to hers.

“Damn,” Bobbi finally whispered. “...  _ damn _ …” She slammed her fist on the counter with enough force that the wood cracked.

“Yeah,” Clint faltered. “Kinda makes you feel like it’s…”

“Our fault,” Bobbi accepted nodding. “This looks like this file is four or five files pieced together by SHIELD admin. Looks like no one ever put it together how many times this girl was in danger. I swear to God, I -”

“No wonder she doesn’t trust anyone,” Clint fumed angrily. “The people she was supposed to be able to count on failed her. SHIELD, the system, her foster parents…”

“She has us now,” Bobbi growled protectively. “We’ll earn her trust.”

“You really think she’ll stay?” Clint asked softly. “I nearly bolted twice when I was brought in, and I just had my old man to contend with.” Bobbi gave Clint a sharp look. Clint didn’t often talk about his alcoholic father. Clint shrugged.

“Coulson told me to come down here and interview a possible asset?” came Melinda May’s voice from behind him. Clint and Bobbi turned. “Is that her file?” 

Clint nodded and stepped to one side to allow Melinda in to read it. Melinda didn’t really deal with teenagers that much. No one at SHIELD did, apart from at SHIELD Academy. But Melinda also happened to be one of their best field agents. She could take down men twice her size and not break a sweat, but Clint was unsure she could handle someone as scared as Skye. She  _ was _ particularly good at talking to people or really, listening to what they had to say. But still, it was hard to tell how Melinda would react to Skye’s file. Bobbi and Clint watched with worried fascination as Melinda’s face got sterner and sterner as she read deeper into the file.

Finally, Melinda sighed heavily and closed the file. “How the hell could anyone let these things happen to  _ a little kid _ ?” she asked rhetorically. 

“The hell if I know, but it’s a little too late to ask those questions,” Bobbi grumbled. “The question is now, what do we do next? DCFS has filed a missing person’s report regarding Skye.”

“Well they’re sure as hell not getting her back,” Melinda spat. 

Alarms from Skye’s room startled them all and they burst into the room to find Skye out of bed. She had ripped off a handful of monitor cables, and was trying to claw off her oxygen tube to little success. Her breath was fast and shallow while her eyes were wide and panicked. “Hey, hey,” Clint prompted, rushing forward. “You need that. You’re still healing.”

Skye flinched back, causing Clint to freeze and for her to teeter sideways. Bobbi caught her deftly and Skye weakly fought against her, standing again and pulling out of Bobbi’s grip to everyone’s shock. “Who are you people?” she accused, her words slurring. “Where'd you take me? I can’t be here. I need to leave.”

“Hey, hey… Skye, you’re okay,” Clint reminded softly, trying to calm her down. 

“You really need to get back in bed.” Bobbi prompted, gently trying to guide her back into bed. Skye looked like she was near tears as she dug in her heels. “You have two broken ribs and…”

“No,” Skye protested, grabbing clumsily at the needle in her arm. She missed by a significant margin. 

Melinda strode in with Skye’s file and dropped it on the bed table. Skye paled so fast when she saw her legal name on the file that Bobbi tensed, ready to bear the young teen’s weight again in case she fainted. “We’re not sending you back,” Melinda declared in a tone that made it clear that it was definite. “Whatever happens, we’ll figure something out. We’re not going to force you back into a system you can’t trust. Coulson got pulled away on a mission, but I was hoping I could ask you a couple questions. I’m Agent Melinda May.”

Skye looked uncomfortable standing next to the bed, then during the pregnant pause Skye’s endurance ran out and her knees buckled. Bobbi caught her and lifted her onto the bed, hooking her back up to oxygen cannula and the heart monitors leads, despite Skye’s weak protests.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Melinda announced quietly locating a chair and dragging it to the foot of Skye’s bed so they were on the same level. “I’ll trade you a question for a question.”

“Why should I trust you?” Skye asked, panting a little shallowly.

“That’s a good question.” Melinda granted. “The answer is that I don’t expect you to. With your past, why should you? But I’d like the chance to earn it.”

Skye’s eyebrows raised at that, unused to that level of honesty from an adult. “You’re right. I won’t trust you just because you tell me to. Everybody lies. They either tell me they’re going to adopt me or…” her eyes flicked towards the file, then she blushed heavily.

“I get that.” Melinda conceded. “That’s why we’re not going to ask for your trust right out of the gate. We’re just asking for the opportunity to try. How’d you get your SHIELD file?”

“There’s a small hole in your RSA implementation used by your payroll vendor,” Skye revealed. “The encryption algorithm that provides access to the system archive is out of date, and I was able to crack it. Not to mention the firmware on the server is ancient. After that I just searched the date I was dropped off at the orphanage and the redacted version of my document was right there.” Skye set her jaw defiantly. “You guys going to lock me up for that?”

“You’re fifteen and you can hack into the most secure agency in the world without getting noticed,” Melinda smirked. “We tend to recruit people with skills like that.”

“Really?” Skye quizzed, eyebrows raised. She’d clearly been expecting Melinda to have a different reaction to what had been technically a very illegal act.

“Unless they're absolutely evil, pretty much, yeah,” Melinda grinned. “We have a lot of ex-mercenaries wandering around this place.”

“Including yours truly,” Clint confirmed, puffing out his chest and grinning broadly.

“You’re a merc?” Skye asked, some combination of surprise and fear flitting across her face. 

“I was. Now I’m one of SHIELD’s top specialists,” Clint revealed with a smile at Skye’s look of shock. “SHIELD generally recruits ex-armed forces, mercs, black hat hackers turned white… Fury likes to say that he can teach people to fight for the greater good, but he can’t teach people how to be a natural. Calls it his one-man speech.”

“So, what… you want to recruit me?” Skye asked.

“You're a little young,” Melinda insisted. “We can’t legally recruit minors without parental consent, and we typically don’t. Even the ones we do usually only get recruited because they’ll be eighteen by the time they graduate from the academy. But the option will be open to you when you turn eighteen, so long as you pass the entrance exam.”

“So… what’s next?” Skye queried, her voice quivering, though it was hard to tell if she was scared or just cold.

Melinda sighed, expecting the next part to be hard for Skye to swallow. “Medical needs to excise that burn on your shoulder because it’s infected. Then you’ll stay here until that fever of yours breaks. After that we’ll figure out what to do.”

“I’m fine on my own,” Skye groused stubbornly. “I don’t need a babysitter. I just need to get out of here.”

Melinda pressed her lips together. “Bobbi, Clint, please give us some privacy,” she demanded, her voice growing significantly harder. Both agents seemed to know not to protest. They walked out and Melinda closed the door behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye, still extremely hesitant, meets more SHIELD personnel and learns something about her past that turns her world view on it's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness! Thank you for all the kudos and reviews you sent. I was really happy to see them. I will be maintaining a Monday/Thursday update schedule for the next 7 weeks (I *will not* be updating the week of Christmas, sorry to my Jewish followers). One thing I forgot to do last chapter is thank my Beta (*feels shame*), Lady Winterlight who's been giving me incredible guidance and feedback over the last 18 months while I tried my damnedest to get all of this right. Thank you.

“You are not fine,” Melinda pressed as gently and calmly as she could. “You’re severely underweight, have a mild case hypothermia and a fever because you didn’t have the common sense to find a coat in January, and between those two things and the broken ribs, you could develop pneumonia. I get that self-reliance was a survival strategy for you and I want to _kill_ the people that forced you into this situation, but you need to get it through your thick head that you could have died in that apartment.”

“Then at least I’d have died on my own terms.” Melinda was a little surprised to see that Skye had started shaking. “You’re _not_ my mother. You don’t need to pretend to care about me. I know you don’t. No one ever has and no one ever will.”

“I’m not pretending. I care because no child should have gone through what you’ve through,” Melinda maintained, setting her jaw in frustration.

“You don’t have the first clue what that is, so I know that’s a lie,” Skye shot back. “I’m nobody special. I'm no one to bother with.”

Melinda sighed. “I can help you. Why won’t you let me?”

Skye and Melinda stared at each other for a long time, neither speaking or moving. They barely even blinked. Skye was stubborn, but Melinda wasn’t backing down. “So, you pity me because I’m a foster kid? You expect me to what? Be placed by some cookie-cutter family where I have to respect curfews and become a cheerleader?”

Melinda snorted. “We’d probably get you a tutor and figure out a way for you to earn your High School diploma,” she explained evenly, calmer now that she had some time to breathe and recenter herself. “Curfews are normally implemented for the sake of the safety of the minor, but that’d be something that be up for debate with your guardians. Cheerleading would not be a requirement, but is useful if you want to go into Ops. Bobbi went to undergrad on a gymnastics scholarship. I know you’ve been alone for a long time, but like it or not, you aren’t any more.”

A nurse came in looking apologetic, halting the conversation. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to take Skye to surgery,” she said. Skye seemed to try to protest as the nurse took her vitals. Melinda craned her neck to try and see Skye’s temperature and her eyebrows went high. 103.4º. It was impressive that Skye was able to form coherent thoughts at all, let alone fight them so hard.

The nurse made a dissatisfied noise, but got behind Skye’s bed and released the brakes on the bed. “I’m coming too,” Melinda insisted suddenly. The nurse gave Skye a look, then nodded. They made Melinda scrub down and gown and glove up. During that time, they prepped Skye, giving her local anesthetic and pain meds.

As Melinda approached, Skye made a disparaging comment about Melinda’s ancestors in slurred, slightly inaccurate Mandarin.

“Language,” Melinda said in Mandarin as she sat down, unconsciously slipping a hand into Skye’s. “But if you are going to talk that way, you’re going to do it accurately.”

Skye switched back to English as the drugs really kicked in. “Don’ wanna get pren’nt,” she slurred.

“Don’t worry Skye, I won’t let you get pregnant,” Melinda consoled.

“Not getting pregnant…”

“Why do you think you’re going to get pregnant?”

“The mons’ers…” Skye looked up. “The lights are really pretty,”

“Yeah, Skye, they’re pretty,” Melinda agreed softly, stroking the girl’s hair protectively. Skye tensed and squeezed Melinda’s hand. She tried to shift and several hands held her down. “It’s okay, Skye. No one’s going to hurt you while I’m here.”

After Skye’s wound was cleaned of the infection and bandaged, she was wheeled back to her room. The procedure had been difficult, mostly due to Skye’s drugged struggle to repeatedly get away. To Melinda’s surprise, Skye still clung to her, miraculously trusting Melinda’s promise that Melinda would defend her. Clint and Bobbi silently appraised the situation and took position near enough to Skye to talk to her and far enough away to give her space.

“How you feeling, Skye?” Clint asked gently.

Skye looked around blearily. “”Where am I?” she asked foggily. “Who are you?”

“It’s May and Clint and Bobbi, Skye,” Clint said gently. Skye flinched back as if not expecting the noise.

Melinda placed a hand on Skye’s forehead. “Go get the doctor,” she said urgently. “Skye, do you know where you are?”

“Hospital,” Skye responded.

Bobbi ducked out and came back with the doctor moments later. The doctor took her vitals and checked her over quickly. “The infection could be causing a degree of confusion. Which added to the sedation, might be causing this degree of forgetfulness. Skye, do you know where you are?”

“Not hospital?” Skye asked distantly, as if she wasn’t sure. “May?”

“Yeah Skye, you’re still at SHIELD,” Melinda confirmed, squeezing her hand.

“I’ve ordered a smoothie for Skye that she should eat in about an hour when it comes up,” the doctor said before leaving.

Skye spent the next hour dozing off the sedation while Melinda, Clint, and Bobbi silently had a conversation with sign language. Melinda didn’t know a lot of sign, but she knew enough that Clint understood most of what she was saying and she was able to write down the rest.

When the nurse came by with the small smoothie cup. Melinda recognized it as the type of smoothie they gave to agents after they had been recovered from being held prisoner or hostage. It had a high nutritional value and would help Skye get back some of the things that she was sorely lacking in her diet. Melinda knew it was chemically adjusted and felt the urge to bring her some of the foods they had at home.

Melinda gently squeezed Skye’s hand and the young teen _jumped_. “It’s okay, Skye,” Melinda encouraged. “We have some food for you.”

Skye immediately zeroed in on the smoothie on the tray in front of her and clumsily tried to grab for it. She nearly knocked it over and Melinda took it and held it in front of Skye to help her. Skye managed to get the straw in her mouth and started drinking it rapidly, watching Melinda’s every move as she did so, as if she expected Melinda to take it away. Melinda wanted to take it away so she didn’t make herself sick, but forced herself not to react when she realized how many times Skye would have had to fight for food for that reaction to occur.

Not long after Skye finished the smoothie, Melinda could see that Skye was fighting sleep. The nurse knocked on the door again looking apologetic. “It's time for Skye’s medications,” she said.

“I don’t need medication,” Skye protested. “I’m fine.”

The nurse smiled a little sheepishly. “Sorry, since you’re only fifteen… parents or guardians consent to medications administered to minors. In this case, Agents May and Morse have been put on record as your temporary guardians.”

Skye pouted and turned to her side, away from the IV. Melinda slipped a hand into Skye’s without thinking and held it while the nurse injected the medications into Skye’s IV. Skye’s eyelids almost immediately began to flutter and droop as she fought to stay awake. Melinda subconsciously started stroking Skye’s hair again as the young girl’s body relaxed. The nurse helped Melinda turn Skye over to a more comfortable position for her broken ribs, then left the pair alone.

Andrew Garner found Melinda, Clint, and Bobbi sitting around Skye an hour later. “Someone told me you were down here,” he explained to his wife, the slightest touch of annoyance in his voice. “This is what Coulson called you in for? Babysitting?”

Melinda, who hadn’t let go of Skye, nodded at the file on the table. “Go ahead and read it,” she said softly as to not wake Skye up. Andrew sat down in one of the chairs provided and started reading through. Like the others, his expression turned stonier and stonier as time went on. Finally, Andrew sighed heavily and closed the file. “What do you think?” Melinda asked.

“I think she needs help,” Andrew sighed. “I’m not completely sure if SHIELD is the one to do it.”

“DCFS isn’t getting her back,” Clint growled low.

Andrew shook his head. “That wouldn’t be wise either. She’d likely just run away again. But I’m talking about therapy. She’s going to need intense treatment for a while. Even then, she might not ever be the type that will be able to rely on other people. Clint, the intake report says you’re the one who found her?” Clint nodded. “What’s your impression of her?”

“She’s scared,” Clint acknowledged. “She wants to trust us - to trust anyone - but I don’t think she’s been ever given the skills to know how. She barely let go of Melinda until we managed to get her to fall asleep.”

“The only question in my mind is who takes her in,” Bobbi said. “I know any one of us, including Coulson, would be willing to give her a home if that’s what it came down to, but we have to think about what’s best for her, and most of us are gone on missions half the time.”

“She needs protecting,” Melinda noted. “Whatever she ran from scared the crap out of her.”

“She needs to learn how to trust people by trusting them a few at a time. So not a big family, no one in a crowded neighborhood,” Andrew agreed.

“Though given her reaction to us, it seems like on some level she desperately craves parents,” Bobbi agreed, nodding.

“That’s pretty common in cases like this,” Andrew said. “Skye’s basically had to raise herself. It make sense that she wants to be able to just be a kid and have someone to lean on.”

“I mean, I could probably talk Hunter into it,” Bobbi hemmed. “but we’re gone all the time. I get that fifteen-year-olds might not need much supervision, but leaving her alone for weeks at a time isn’t practical either.”

“We need people who have SHIELD clearance, but have the time,” Andrew noted.

“I hear you had a visitor to your apartment, Barton,” came a voice from behind them. Recognizing the voice as the director’s, they all turned around. Clint opened his mouth to object and Fury put a hand up to stop him. “You’ve questioned her?” he asked Melinda.

“Some,” Melinda hesitated. “She doesn’t trust us very much. Kept looking for exits like she was thinking about trying to make a break for it. She did reveal that she was able to hack into our RSA implementation to get her own redacted file. How she knew it was here, I’m not sure. We got a little distracted when they brought her hospital records down.”

Fury nodded. “Her skillset could be useful in a few years. If you can, get her to trust and work with us. I’ll let DCFS know that she’s been taken into our custody. I doubt they’ll push back much, if at all,” he said.

“Someone should talk to her about how she feels about going on an anxiety medication for a transitional period,” Andrew analyzed, still reading Skye’s file and taking notes.

“She was pretty jumpy at my place,” Clint noted. “She kept watching me and Coulson like she expected us to hit her or something.”

Everyone in the room let the reality of that statement sink in. “Never again,” Melinda practically growled.

Andrew nodded. “That reaction will be there no matter what we do until she learns on an instinctive level that she can trust us not to do so. Additionally, it was probably worse for you two because abusive men are typically more physically violent while abusive women are typically more emotionally violent. Director, it’d probably be wise to assign her to a female therapist if she’s staying with SHIELD.”

Fury nodded. “I’ll take it into consideration,” he agreed.

“Have you given any consideration to who she’s going to be housed with?” Bobbi asked eagerly.

“I’ll take her,” Clint volunteered before Fury could say anything.

“Hunter and I would be happy to,” Bobbi spoke up.

Melinda didn’t speak, but everyone noticed that she hadn’t taken her eyes off of Skye in a while. “Mel?” Andrew asked. Melinda looked at him and the two of them had a conversation without words. After a few moments, Andrew nodded and Melinda went back to watching Skye. “Director, I think we’re throwing our hat in the ring too.”

“And I suppose Coulson would too,” Fury said, nodding in resignation. “I’ll consider your offers. Keep me updated on her status. I’ll come down first thing tomorrow. You people should all go home.”

“I’m not leaving her alone,” Melinda insisted. “She could have a nightmare or worse.”

“I could justify a couple cots down here,” Fury allowed hesitently, “but…”

“I’ll stay,” Clint volunteered.

“You just got back from a three week mission with Romanov and Morse, Barton,” Fury noted. “All three of you need to take your mandatory R and R before anything happens further.”

“Mel and I can stay,” Andrew consented easily. “Just get us some dinner and a couple cots and we’ll be good to go.”

Fury nodded. “I’ll make sure the medical staff knows,” he conceded. “Everybody get some rest.”

\--------

Clint and Bobbi finally left. Melinda and Andrew had dinner, chatting quietly about the possibility of taking Skye into their lives and home, even for a couple years. Andrew raised the point that it was going to be a lot more work than either of them were picturing. Skye would not be a typical fifteen year old. But they had both wanted a child and Skye clearly needed them. This seemed to be proven true as, about an hour before bedtime when both Melinda and Andrew were nose-deep in paperwork, Skye woke up, screaming bloody murder.

“No! No! Please, stop. Just stop,” Skye cried, her eyes shut tight. She sat up, her eyes snapping open, gasping for breath, her heart rate monitor going haywire, but seemed unaware of where she was. Melinda moved to comfort the girl but Andrew stopped her from physically touching Skye.

Andrew calmly sat on the edge of Skye’s bed. “Skye,” Andrew said in a gentle, clear voice. He spoke each sentence carefully and firmly. “Skye, my name is Andrew. I’m a doctor. I’m here with Melinda. You know her as Melinda. You’re safe.” Skye blinked a couple of times, but her breaths were still shallow and gasping. Clearly whatever she was dreaming about triggered a panic attack. “Skye, concentrate on breathing. I’m going to count to ten. Every time you hear a number I want you to inhale, then exhale. Do you understand?”

Shakily, Skye nodded, both fists gripping the blankets around her. Andrew very slowly counted to ten, praising Skye every time she took in a breath at first, until it became easier for her to take each breath. Skye looked like she was about to cry for a split-second, her body slumped and world-weary. Melinda blinked and Skye had resumed her blank expression, as if nothing had happened. Andrew chanced a glance at Melinda, and he could tell she needed a break.

“Mel, do you think you could scrounge up three of those individual ice creams that they have in the cafeteria?” Andrew asked. Skye perked up minutely at the suggestion of ice cream.

“Yeah,” Melinda said with a tight smile. “Yeah, sure. What flavor do you like Skye? Chocolate?” Skye nodded.

Once Melinda left, Andrew walked over to the TV that was placed across from her bed and opened the cabinet below it to reveal a Playstation console. “Most SHIELD operations agents hate sitting still, so the hospital rooms here have a Playstation or an XBox in them.”

“So?” Skye asked, her voice still a little shaky.

“So, you’re a hacker right?” Andrew recalled. “I assume you’re halfway decent at Mario Kart. Or am I about to wipe the floor with you?”

Skye gave a short laugh. “There’s no _way_ you can beat me.”

“Prove it,” Andrew challenged her, keeping his voice light and non-threatening.

“Oh, it’s on,” Skye declared. “On like Donkey Kong.”

Melinda found them chatting as they battled, a half-hour later, all traces of the nightmare and panic attack gone. Skye wasn’t smiling exactly but her eyes didn’t have the haunted look Melinda had seen before she left. “Ice cream break?” she offered.

“Sounds good,” Andrew agreed. “I’m getting creamed anyway.”

“You weren’t bad,” Skye said. “For an old guy.”

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Andrew laughed.

“Teenagers tend to do better at video games than adults,” Skye offered. “Our brains are still developing so it’s easier for us to develop the hand-eye coordination and cognitive reasoning skills that video games often require.”

Melinda and Andrew couldn’t help but stare at Skye for a moment. It was the most she had volunteered since they found her. Skye seemed to realize it, because her face went stony and she looked down at her lap. After they finished their ice creams, the night nurse came in to administer Skye’s meds. Melinda and Andrew quietly debated one of them staying up just in case, but it was decided that Melinda slept so lightly that she’d wake up at the slightest noise any way. They had pushed the two cots together so they’d have more space and fell asleep wondering what the next day was going to bring.

Skye had another nightmare around two in the morning; it didn’t trigger another panic attack, but she was shaking hard from the fear. It took her a while to get her calmed down again. By the time they did, it was time for Melinda to start Tai Chi. Skye watched with quiet fascination as Melinda moved through the kata. After Tai Chi, Melinda and Andrew stepped out to have a talk with Skye’s doctors.

While the SHIELD agents had been outside the room the day before, she had managed to locate her personal belongings below her bed and hidden her knife within arm’s reach. Not long after, a terrifying-looking red-head dropped from an air duct with a knife in her hand; Skye scrambled for her own but managed to fumble it. She watched it skitter across the floor with wide eyes. The redhead smirked, twirled her knife so the handle was facing Skye, and offered it to Skye.

Skye took it cautiously, eyeing the woman as she went over and picked up the knife Skye had dropped. “This one’s too rusted and flimsy to be useful,” she said. “You can have mine.” She saw Skye’s face, still fearful, and smiled reassuringly. “Sorry about that. I had to be sure you weren’t using Barton to get close to him or SHIELD. I’m his partner, Natasha Romanov.” Skye said nothing, still eyeing Natasha tensely. “I can teach you how to use that properly if you want,” Natasha continued. “I’ll teach you how to fight so no one can ever hurt you again.”

It was then that Skye really looked at Natasha for the first time, noting that the pain in the red-head’s eyes was the same as her own. She recognized a kindred spirit when she saw one. Someone else who had also been raised in hell. Skye gave a short nod, then loosened her grip on the knife, dropping it on the blankets. Skye knew that despite her fear, the first tendrils of trust were starting to form with these people. She didn’t trust it to last very long, but her body seemed to be overruling her mind, desperate to heal and recover from living on the street for the last few months.

Melinda, Andrew, and a doctor came in then. “Good morning, Skye. How are you feeling this morning?” Skye shrugged, avoiding eye contact. She couldn’t complain. She had been given food last night and was warm, which was more than she had had in awhile.

Melinda spotted the knife and smirked at Natasha. “Really Natasha?” she asked.

Natasha shrugged. “She should be allowed to defend herself and the knife she had was cheap quality.”

Melinda took the knife off the bed and closed it. Skye tensed. “I’m not taking this away from you Skye,” Melinda explained carefully, projecting her movements and moving the knife to her side table. “I’m just moving it to your bedside table so no one gets hurt while we take a look at your ribs and the burn on your back.”

Skye hadn’t been conscious when they had inspected her wounds the night before but now she was able to voice exactly what she thought of the idea. “No,” she disagreed firmly. She hated hospitals and doctors and the looks she got when she was there. The pity when people saw the scars. Plus her ribs were killing her and her entire body generally felt like it was on fire and it had been hit by a truck, especially her shoulder, and she just wanted to be left alone to sleep it off.

Melinda exchanged a look with Andrew then sighed. Natasha sat next to Skye and started combing her fingers through her hair. “I know it’s difficult to allow strangers to see such things,” Natasha consoled, looking straight into Skye’s eyes, “But you are strong and brave and we are only trying to help you.” Skye swallowed audibly, feeling more than a little vulnerable. “What if Andrew and Melinda leave and I show you my scars too, Pauchok? Would that help?”

Skye blushed, hating herself for being so weak. She shook her head. Natasha nodded in acceptance. “No you, uh… you don’t have to do that. I can do this.”

“I’ll go get all of us some breakfast,” Andrew suggested easily. “Pancakes or waffles, Skye?”

Skye was startled by the question. “Uh, pancakes?” she guessed softly, as if there was a wrong answer to the question.

Andrew nodded. “Pancakes it is.”

Once Andrew was gone, Skye allowed them to adjust her SHIELD-issued hospital gown to check her ribs. She didn't know when she’d been changed into it, but someone had which meant they'd already seen her scars. “The surgical cleaning of the infection seems to be going well, but we’re going to keep you here for at least a week to clean it again, monitor it and make sure it doesn’t become re-infected.” the doctor chattered as she checked Skye over.

“But I’ve got nowhere to go,” Skye stammered softly.

Melinda gave Skye a small smile. “We’re working on that. There are several people who’d like to extend you an offer to stay with them, but there are a number of factors involved. We’re working with the Director of SHIELD to determine the best course of action.”

“Do I get a say?” Skye challenged.

Melinda considered her answer. “Let’s say you have veto power,” Melinda allowed finally. “No one is going to send you where you don’t want to go.”

The doctor smiled fondly at the pair of them as she injected Skye’s morning dose of medications into her IV before leaving the room.

Skye began to feel rather awkward in the silence that followed, becoming very aware that the other people in the room were all too aware of the scars on her body and the things she had been through in the last sixteen years. They knew things about her that not even Matt, her best friend at St. Agnes’, knew.

“Do you think you’d be up for a walk?” Melinda asked, breaking Skye’s runaway train of thought before it went to places she didn’t want it to go.

Skye nodded eagerly. Melinda switched her IV bag from the hook behind the bed to an IV pole and helped her gain her footing after mostly being in bed and feverish for the last day. They let her walk around the medical wing once, then Melinda pulled the plug when Skye slipped and would have fallen if Nat hadn’t caught her.

“Andrew should be back with our pancakes,” Melinda said, not wanting Skye to push herself when she still had a fever despite medications and antibiotics. “You hungry?”

Skye withdrew into herself as if her instinct was that she was going to be hit for admitting that she wanted food. “Uh, yeah. A little, I guess,” she admitted, nodding. Melinda easily steered Skye back towards her room.

Skye got in a few bites, then discovered it was actually quite difficult to eat food with the nausea she was experiencing, but she still defaulted to guarding her food as she ate. With each bite she slowly got grayer and grayer as the others fought not take the food away from her. Clint cracked first and rolled the tray away. “You can eat the rest later,” Clint reassured her. “No one else will eat it and it won’t go to waste.”

Skye blinked, then blushed and turned away, muttering something that sounded like, “I’m not supposed to waste...”

“It’s not going to waste, Skye,” Melinda needled gently. “It’ll be in the fridge and some one will eat it.” Skye seemed to be too exhausted to argue against that, and fell asleep without really meaning to.

Melinda and Andrew immediately started discussing how to make sure there were plenty of snacks available to Skye if she were placed with them, to get her used to the idea that food would never be taken away from her.

“I’ll teach her how to fight back,” Nat cut in. “I’ll make sure no one does that to her again.”

“I can teach her how to use weapons rather than just fear them,” Clint insisted.

“This is our responsibility now,” Natasha replied.

“Not exactly,” Clint noted quietly. “But yes.”

“I joined SHIELD to stop it from happening again. And it happened anyway,” Nat bemoaned.

“Things happen out of our control,” Melinda effused. “What we can do is fix them and change policy. We’re trying to determine what to do with Skye. What do you think? Should Skye be anywhere close to SHIELD?”

“Yes,” Nat agreed. “Given that she wants to.”

“Really?” Andrew asked in disbelief.

“SHIELD could be a major negative in her life just because of one team that did something they weren’t cleared for. If she’s allowed to stay around here or even become an agent, she could turn a bad experience into something positive.” It was a unique perspective, but then Nat was unique as was Skye. Perhaps she had a point.

When Skye stirred again, Nat and Clint were gone, but Bobbi was back. Melinda and Andrew were still there, though, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. “Why are you still here?” Skye asked.

Melinda paused the movie they had turned on with the volume low while Skye was asleep.

“What do you mean?” Melinda asked calmly.

“I’m sure you have more important stuff to do than all three of you babysitting me,” Skye dismissed, looking down at the sheets.

“Hey,” Melinda asserted, sitting on Skye’s bed so she was facing Skye. She very gently put a finger under Skye’s chin and lifted it so Skye was looking at her. Skye flinched, but nearly imperceptibly. “You’re important. Just as important as anybody else.”

Skye was fairly sure she actually heard something break as it felt like one of the walls she kept up disintegrated. No one in her life had ever told her such a thing. She felt a wet patch on each cheek and it took a moment for it to register that she was crying. She pulled away from Melinda, wiping away the tears and forcing herself to stop. These people couldn’t possibly be infiltrating her walls within twenty-four hours. Eventually they were going to reject her. Eventually, she’d be returned to foster care or they’d ditch her. Of course, that just made her feel worse. She was amazed at how badly she wanted this to work. For the first time in her life it felt like people actually gave a damn that she didn’t end up dead in a ditch and she really didn’t want to give that up.

Suddenly, she felt the overwhelming urge to get out of there. She needed to run. Needed to protect herself. She started to get off the bed, towards the door, but Melinda’s quick reflexes stopped her.

“No! No. I have to…” she couldn’t breathe. The room was suffocating her. She was going to die unless she got out. Someone was moving in front of her, but it Skye’s brain refused to process it. All that registered was that she couldn’t breathe.

“Skye,” a calm voice permeated the panic. “Skye, it’s Andrew. You’re okay. I promise you.” She didn’t feel okay, but she couldn’t get enough breath to explain that she was suffocating. “Skye, can you take a deep breath for me?” Wait, she knew an Andrew. He was kind. He played video games with her. She tried, but it was like sucking through a straw. “Good job, Skye. Good job. Now, I’m going to count to ten. At each number, take a breath.”

Andrew counted, and Skye breathed, and that was all there was for a little while. Slowly, the room came back to her. She was in her bed in SHIELD medical, and she felt like she’d been run over by a train. She laid back on the bed and closed her eyes for a minute. “Give us the room, Bobbi?” Andrew asked.

Skye’s eyes shot open and she sat up. Bobbi still looked terrified at what just happened and didn’t seem to want to go. “It’s okay, Bobbi,” Melinda cajoled. “We won’t be long. We just need to talk to Skye about something.”

Suspiciously, Bobbi nodded and walked over, squeezing Skye’s shoulder as she went. “Skye, we wanted to talk to you about these panic attacks,” Melinda explained. Skye tensed, and looked nervously at the two of them.

“It’s perfectly normal to have them,” Andrew added calmly. “And we’re not judging you in any way.”

“We just think you shouldn’t have to fight them alone,” Melinda prodded, reaching hand out to grab Skye’s gently.

“You think I’m crazy,” Skye sighed, eyes downcast. “You want to send me to a shrink.” Melinda and Andrew exchanged a glance. “It’s okay. The nuns thought I was crazy too. They always thought I made it up.”

“We _don’t_ think you’re crazy, Skye,” Melinda denied firmly. “We think that you’ve been under an enormous weight. I’ve seen Navy SEALS crack under less pressure. We simply think it would be best if we got you a professional to help you get out from under it.”

“That help might include medication to prevent these panic attacks,” Andrew explained.

“Can I think about it?” Skye asked in a small voice.

Melinda nodded. “Of course. You’re old enough to make your own choices. Just promise me one thing, always make informed ones.” Skye nodded, agreeing to the condition easily. She would rather know more than less; it was usually safer that way. She’d been blindsided enough in her life that she didn’t ever want to go through it again if she could help it.

“How do you know all this stuff?” she asked Andrew.

Andrew sighed a little. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, so I need you to take a deep breath and wait for me to finish. Our interacting is entirely by chance, but I happen to be a psychologist.” Skye stiffened, remembering her promise to Andrew. “I’ll never be your therapist. Inter-agency therapy isn’t even in my department. I deal with members of the community who have gained powers, primarily.”

“You won’t… you’re not my shrink?”

“Apart from helping you through the hopefully soon-to-be rare panic attack and playing you at Mario Kart, all I can really hope to be is your friend. Would you be okay with that?” Skye paused, then nodded slowly.

Bobbi came back in, producing an adult coloring book and a bunch of differently colored gel pens and they both colored, chatting, while Melinda and Andrew went home to shower and change. Without an audience, Bobbi actually managed to get Skye to eat a bit more. It helped that they’d been served tomato soup and grilled cheese, which seemed to be a favorite of Skye’s. After, Bobbi got Skye to settle down and watch a Disney movie while waiting for Melinda and Andrew to return.

The week passed much the same. Andrew and Melinda slept in Skye’s hospital room, the others visited regularly, and Skye slowly got better. She was very suspicious of the fact that they were all staying by her side.

No one had ever stayed in her room for one night, let alone for five. She didn’t know what to do with herself or what they meant to do with her. They repeatedly told her she wasn’t in trouble for hacking SHIELD, but she couldn’t help but distrust their word. People had lied to her before. She wanted to trust them, really she did. They all seemed amazing, especially Melinda.

Melinda was already taking the time to review Mandarin with Skye and teach her things Skye hadn’t already known, patiently correcting her pronunciation. They were progressively getting Skye to eat more and more every day and Andrew and Melinda had started bringing Skye homemade meals each day. Skye confessed to Melinda that she’d never had a fresh fruit or vegetable and the look on Melinda’s face made Skye feel like she had confessed to murder.

Melinda then made Skye eat fresh vegetables at every meal and fresh fruit every day. There were new consistencies and tastes that were really weird. The dietician who came by to go over Skye’s critically low nutrition scores said it would take time for Skye to get used to it. Right before dinner, when everyone was supposed to meet up again, a shadow loomed over them from Skye’s door. Both of them looked over from the movie they were watching in Mandarin.

Skye made a high-pitched noise, then dove under the bed. “Skye!” Melinda exclaimed, getting up and trying to comfort the young girl. “It’s okay, it’s just the Director. He’s not going to hurt you.”

“He could kick me out… or arrest me.” Skye argued, trying to get as far under the bed as possible.

“Skye, he’s not going to do either of those things, I promise. He probably just needs to talk to you. Or ask you questions. I’ll be here the whole time.” Melinda was trying to resist the urge to get Skye out from under the bed before she hurt herself.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Melinda helped Skye get back in bed and both looked to Director Fury who had sat down. The Director was in sunglasses, a long-sleeved shirt, and jeans. Melinda noted he wasn’t even frowning. “I hear someone’s feeling better,” he greeted. “You probably don’t remember me, Skye. I was in here before. My name is Nicholas Fury and I’m the Director of SHIELD.”

Skye was nervous, but with Bobbi, Clint, Andrew, and Melinda by her side, she was okay. “I am, sir,” she responded respectfully. “Thank you.”

With Fury on one side of Skye’s bed by her feet, Melinda and Andrew situated themselves so that they were on either side of Skye’s bed by her head. “I came here to talk to you about a couple of things. The first is the redacted SHIELD file.”

Skye stiffened. “Look, I know…” she started, expecting to have to grovel a bit.

Fury held up a hand to stop her. “I would like to apologize. Your case wasn’t a sanctioned SHIELD mission. We’re still tracking down the specifics of how you were put into the foster care system, and I can’t tell you everything, because some of it’s still a mystery, but I can tell you that you were found in Hunan Province, China. We don’t know who your parents were or are because you were found abandoned, the sole survivor of a village that were all killed.” Skye could hardly believe the news. It wasn’t SHIELD’s fault. Not officially.

“No one is going to punish you for hacking SHIELD for your file,” Fury swore. “No one blames you for wanting out of the situation you were in. Can I ask you how you found out that there was a file?”

Tears swam in Skye’s eyes and she swallowed. “Uh, I… SHIELD was the last place I checked. I checked all the other agencies… a nun let it slip that an agent of some kind dropped me off one time after I'd been returned.”

Melinda tensed at the way Skye used ‘returned.’

“I promise if we find anything else worth noting, I’ll debrief you on it.” Skye nodded, accepting the director’s promise. “Now, with regards to who you’re going home with. I considered several factors. I didn’t want to place you with anyone you didn’t know, but I also can’t in good conscience place you with someone who wouldn’t be available for you any time you need it. So I’ve decided to place you with Agents May and Garner.”

“I… “ Skye started. She stopped and looked from one side of her bed to the other. “I don’t know.”

“We’d be happy to have you if you want to come home with us,” Melinda agreed lightly. “Remember, you have veto power.”

“I mean, if I have to go somewhere… I guess it’s okay… I mean, if it’s okay with you guys,” Skye stammered nervously. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“Of course it’s okay with us,” Melinda agreed as warmly as possible. “We’d love to have you. Besides, now we’ll have a use for our huge house that Andrew insisted that we buy.”

“I’ll have an agent bring down the paperwork for you to sign,” Fury ordered. “I don’t want to see either of you in the office until Monday.”

“Yes sir,” Melinda quipped, satisfied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye begins to settle into life within SHIELD, but she's by no means comfortable with her situation. Skye then proceeds to have educational and psychological evaluations. Melinda, Andrew, and Fury have a conversation about the political side of things that Skye doesn't know about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really enjoying all the reviews you guys have been sending me!  
> Thanks again goes to my Beta, Lady Winterlight, and a shoutout to Kiwigirl, who just finished her Spring finals!

Everyone seemed genuinely happy for Skye. Andrew, who was quieter than any man she’d ever met, had been elated, in his own quiet way, smiling happily at Skye without really saying anything or trying to touch her. Melinda held her hand, slightly tactile and seeming to sense that Skye needed reassurance. Bobbi, Clint, and Nat had been happy for Skye as well, but there was a degree of disappointment. It took a while for Skye to realize that they had each wanted to give her a home as well. It was overwhelming to Skye. It had been a long time since she hadn’t been considered a burden.

Skye watched all of them suspiciously, looking for any sign that this wasn’t something that Melinda and Andrew wanted. She even tried to convince them that they didn't want her.

“I’m not worth the trouble,” she murmured softly as dessert was being cleared away. “Not one foster parent has ever wanted to keep me. I’m not worth… you won’t ever love me and you’ll regret your decision. I’ve destroyed families before. I’ve caused divorces and turned good, kind people into… all of it is my fault.”

“It wasn’t, Skye,” Melinda intoned softly, taking Skye’s hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Skye tugged her hand out of Melinda’s grip. “It was. You can’t possibly know that it wasn’t. You weren’t there.”

“You’re right,” Andrew cut in. “But let me tell you something about what I know. No one is responsible for anyone else’s emotions in this world. So all the anger and frustration you may have been on the receiving end of - that wasn’t your fault. Mistakes can happen. We might lose our tempers from time to time, but we’ll be doing our best not to and we’ll be sorry if we ever do. But Skye, you’re not responsible for other people. Those foster parents shouldn’t have treated you like that. The nuns and the System shouldn’t have either. The way that you grew up wasn’t your fault.”

“Stop,” Skye cried, tearing up.

Andrew nodded. “Okay,” he murmured. “We can stop. Maybe you’d like to pick out some furniture for you new room?”

“New… what?” Skye asked. Tears still streaked her face, but her mouth was open and eyes wide, unable to process the information.

“Well it’s going to be your room. At least as long as you want it. You should be able to make it your own,” Andrew pointed out.

Bobbi and Nat spent the evening flanking Skye’s bed as they surfed through the IKEA website and helped her pick out furniture. Skye had found a cheap bed frame, but Bobbi, Nat, and Melinda cajoled her into buying a bed with storage. Skye tried to argue that it wasn’t necessary to get her all new stuff, but Melinda and Andrew insisted she decorate her room the way she wanted to. So she picked out her bed, a white one that Clint described as ‘princess-y, in a good way’. “I don’t need it,” Skye immediately backed off of the frame until Nat punched Clint playfully. “There’s nothing wrong with girly, jerk.”

Skye blushed. And they moved on to picking out sheets (red) and a duvet cover (black), making Natasha very happy, though Skye wasn’t exactly sure why. They also made her add a comforter to the list. “I don’t need it,” Skye argued. “I can get a blanket instead.”

“You do need it, Skye,” Melinda pressed. “We may not be in New York but it does get cold here.”

“I’ve survived without one.”

“Skye, what’s the rule?” Clint groaned.

“I can’t say I don’t need something just because I’ve survived without it before,” Skye said quietly.

“Why not get both?” Andrew suggested. “Then if you want one over the other on a certain night, you have it.”

“That’s a good idea!” Nat agreed, taking the mouse and adding a fuzzy red blanket to the shopping cart over Skye’s objections. They let her get a cheaper dresser and desk since they’d spent more money on her bed, which made Skye feel better about it.

Skye was switched to oral medications the next morning while Bobbi, Nat, and Clint went to the store with Andrew to pick up everything. Afterwards, Andrew dropped them off at the house to set Skye’s room up and move the current furnishings to the basement while Andrew went back to SHIELD for lunch and Skye’s final tests before she went through discharge.

Skye wasn’t about to confess it to anyone, but after the daily walking the physical therapist had assigned her to increase her endurance, she was pretty tired. She’d worked up to two and a half laps, but then tripped and totally wiped out. Melinda had tried to catch her, but Skye still managed to twist her ankle. No matter how many people asked her, it still didn’t hurt. The medical department, Melinda, and Andrew all made her take and use the crutches the medical staff had lent her anyway. In addition to the crutch, medical gave her orders for a nutritional drink she had to drink to supplement her diet, and a supply of fresh bandages to change the now-healing burn.

“Couch-rest?” Skye asked, objecting to the doctor’s orders.

“You nearly passed out walking 35 yards,” Melinda argued.

“I didn’t,” Skye protested weakly, knowing Melinda had a point. Melinda just gave her a look. “Okay fine,” Skye pouted. “Bed or the couch for the next week. I get it.”

Skye was loaded into the car and they started the trek to Melinda’s and Andrew’s house. Skye resisted the urge to jump out at every stop light, her jaw dropping when they passed through the entry of a fancy gated community.

Melinda began a running commentary from the passenger seat. “This neighborhood has a lot of federal agents, so the security is higher than the average gated community. It’s really safe and the security office makes a point to get to know everyone who lives here. Don’t be surprised if they call you by name even the first time you meet them.”

“Over there is the golf course and community center, which houses the pool,” Melinda continued. “People also don’t ask too many questions around here. We all have our cover stories for the neighbors and everyone more or less pretends they’re true.”

Andrew turned onto a street and slowed in a way that caused Skye to sit up. Andrew drove up a driveway and Skye’s eyes widened. The house was fancy and huge. She wondered, not for the first time, if this were all a dream. All of this was too good to be true. She was never this lucky. Andrew pulled into the garage and both of them helped Skye into the house. Clint, Bobbi, and Nat were in the kitchen, preparing meat and vegetables for a stir fry.

The kitchen was large and seemed like the kind of place that made Skye want to learn how to cook. It was lived in, and obviously well-used.

“What happened?” Clint asked worriedly.

“I just twisted my ankle walking,” Skye noted.

“It’s a very mild sprain. Good as new in a couple of days,” Andrew said easily.

While Melinda put away the medical supplies given to them, Andrew showed Skye the downstairs bathroom, office, and living room. At that point, Skye almost fell asleep while standing and Andrew had her lie down on the couch. She was asleep in less than a moment.

Skye dozed until Melinda woke her for dinner. She felt pretty awkward at the dinner table, mostly because she didn’t know what to say. It was easy in the hospital, because that was a venue she was used to. But here in the quiet of the house, she didn’t know how to do this. Be a daughter. Be taken care of. She hadn’t done it a long time and the last time she’d tried… all she could do to comfort herself was to reassure herself that eventually they’d get tired of her. Everyone always did. It was the one constant in her life.

The stir fry was delicious, she had to admit, and she was so distracted by her thoughts that she ate a lot more than she intended to. The adults gave her a second helping when she wasn’t looking and she’d continued eating without thinking about objecting about her share of the food.

Once she realized it though, Skye reddened, looking down at her empty plate. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have…”

Nat somehow knew what she was trying to say. “There’s enough food Skye, you didn’t take more than your share.”

Immediately the others caught on. “We always make it a point to make more than enough.” Melinda explained. “Sometimes we have guests over or I’ll be just home from somewhere and be famished. Or Andrew will have worked through lunch. If we run out, there’s other things to eat and if we have leftovers, it’ll keep until tomorrow or for lunches.”

“We like to eat homemade around here,” Andrew said. “Hope you don’t mind.” Skye blushed again and looked away.

They refused to let her get up and help clear, and refused to let her prep dessert, which was a small bowl of ice cream apiece. The second Skye’s ribs started bothering her, she must have started to pull faces or something because Melinda wasted no time getting her upstairs. This was her first look at the bedroom.

She didn’t say anything and kept her emotions locked down, but she couldn’t help but admit to herself that the room seemed cosy. It had a hardwood floor, and even though she'd told them she didn't get cold anymore (she really didn't), there was a thick, plush purple rug on one side of the bed she'd picked out. Blue curtains in a binary pattern hung on her windows and tiny, red Chinese lanterns on a string of lights intertwined the headboard. The dresser and desk were both in white, but there were other little touches. A small stuffed fox dressed as Robin Hood, her favorite Disney movie, sat among the pillows on her bed; a silver spider paperweight, with a bright red hourglass highlighted on its stomach, sat on her desk, reflecting the lamplight; and on the top of the chest of drawers was a little remote controlled airplane.

“Let me show you the bathroom,” Melinda sighed. Skye followed Melinda and saw an oversized SHIELD shirt and some sleep pants on the counter along with her medication. “Will you be okay?” Melinda asked. Skye nodded and Melinda closed the door behind her. Skye exhaled slowly, trying to quell the panic she was feeling. She took her meds and changed, then opened the door to find Melinda there.

She was surprised. “I… I’m not going to run away,” she noted timidly.

“I know,” Melinda reassured. Melinda reached up and Skye flinched away, then retreated to her room in a hurry, practically feeling Melinda’s stare following her. “Skye,” Melinda called after her. Skye froze and turned slightly. “Good night.”

Skye remained where she was for a moment, then nodded robotically. Once in her room, she stored her dirty clothes in her bag, then curled up under the warm comforter, and was soon asleep.

Skye expected to bounce back immediately and the next week on the couch would be hell, but she napped for long stretches of the next two days. On the third day, Skye had gained some of her stamina back, so Melinda took Skye out for the morning, just the two of them, to go clothes shopping. Skye had wanted to object but she was still tired enough to make an argument daunting, and Melinda pointed out that she and Andrew were given a paycheck for this kind of thing. Melinda took Skye to Macy's where they bought pants, graphic shirts, and sneakers, as well as underwear. Skye was extremely grateful that Melinda didn't force her to try dresses or skirts like her other foster mothers. Skye would have worn them, certainly, if it meant they'd love her, but she was glad she didn't need to fake it.

Once Skye got home, she slept a couple hours on the couch, then played video games with Andrew and Melinda. Both Andrew and Melinda enjoyed playing video games when they weren't working, it seemed, since their home entertainment system housed multiple consoles and tons of games. Skye remained on edge regarding her new living situation, unsure how long it would be before she messed up in their eyes and they either returned her, kicked her out, or lost their temper. Still, it was nice to be in a house with people who pretended to care.

Melinda went on a mission a couple days later, so Bobbi or Nat or Clint would stay with Skye if  Andrew needed to go into work. On one particular Friday, Bobbi realized that Skye’d been inside for the last two weeks solid and the next week Skye was going to be evaluated by SHIELD, a stressful situation for anyone but Skye was especially nervous. To help mitigate Skye’s anxiety, Bobbi told her that she had planned a surprise.

So when Bobbi knocked on the door of Andrew’s and Melinda’s that morning, Skye’d been amazed to see a man with her. Skye was a little confused to see the man had duct tape over his mouth.

“This is my husband, Hunter. It was his idea,” Bobbi noted, rolling her eyes and smiling. “We know you’re not great around men and Hunter wanted to meet you.”

Skye blushed. “He didn’t have to do that…” she noted quietly. “I can talk to men…”

“Skye,” Bobbi argued, “you’re afraid to be in the same room as Fury.”

Hunter brought up his hands and peeled off a corner of tape. “That’s not fair, Bob. Fury’s like the combination of Jules Winnfield, Elijah Price, and Mace Windu in one unholy body.”

“Right?” Skye agreed, cracking a smile.

“Bob wanted to take you to the Air and Space Museum but that’s boring so I thought we should go to the Aquarium,” Hunter noted.

Skye shrugged. “That’s fine if you want to I guess,” she murmured softly.

“Grab your coat then,” Bobbi said with a smile.

In the time that it took to drive to Baltimore, where the aquarium was, Skye realized that Hunter was a huge goofball.

He told outrageous stories about working for the SAS, obviously trying to make Skye laugh. He didn’t fully succeed, but she did smile and relaxed considerably.

“Bob told me a bit about how you came into SHIELD,” Hunter noted.

“Hunter,” Bobbi hissed as Skye stiffened.

“I just mean to say that I get it. A lot of my mates grew up in foster care. Not a great childhood in England.”

“What about you?” Skye asked curiously.

“Grew up pretty normal,” Hunter mumbled.

Bobbi snorted. “He was a trust fund brat until he met me.”

“Seriously?” Skye’s eyes went wide.

“His parents cut him off for marrying me,” Bobbi noted.

“Not exactly,” Hunter grumbled a little tightly. “Can we not talk about this?” Hunter looked uncomfortable Bobbi still clearly had an issue with it, but she let the topic drop, moving the topic to hobbies. Skye, they found out, knew an extraordinary amount about Steve Rogers and Captain America;  Hunter and Skye were soon cheerfully debating if Steve Rogers would have made any impact on the war without the aid of Peggy Carter.

After parking and entering the lobby, Skye stared curiously at Hunter as he pulled two cameras and several lenses from his backpack, checking each of them. One was in a thick plastic casing while the other looked very high quality.

“I’m a bit of a shutterbug,” Hunter explained as the pair of them waited for Bobbi to get tickets. “I mean I like photography. Landscapes, mostly.  I see so much bullshit in the world I like taking photos of things I think that are good and nice.”

“I’d love to see some of your stuff some time,” Skye noted.

“Sure,” Hunter chattered easily. “What about you? Any hobbies?”

Skye shrugged. “Guess I’ve never really tried anything.”

“Do you want to try photography?” Hunter asked, pulling, somehow, a third, smaller camera out of his bag.

“I don’t want to break it,” Skye hedged.

“You won’t. I have faith in you,” Hunter encouraged. “Go ahead.”

Skye found that she really loved taking photos. Hunter patiently taught her the best way to frame a shot and how to pick the best locations for photos. Skye was still wary of Hunter and was hyper-aware of his movements, but she actually surprised herself by having a good time taking photos of animals. Excitedly telling Andrew and Melinda about her day, a tiny part of Skye couldn’t help but feel like she could get used to this becoming normal.

Monday brought a new challenge for Skye. Fury had ordered her to take placement tests so they could determine where she would place in school. It wasn’t spoken, but everyone including Skye expected that she’d be held back some. Melinda, who insisted Skye call her Mel or Melinda while they were at home, as Andrew encouraged her to call him Andrew or Drew, didn't seem to think her probable grade was a problem. The part of Skye that doubted anyone’s sincerity when they told her that they’d give her a home was getting smaller by the day. For the first time in a long time, Skye allowed herself to hope that she’d found her forever family with SHIELD. There was still a large part of her that thought that it wouldn’t last, but she had long ago learned to survive no matter what life threw at her.

School was always a challenge, though. She had always hated it and teachers pretty much always hated her. Within the New York Public School system, she had gained a reputation in school after school for being a smartmouth who never paid attention and was always acting out. She was pretty sure that the instructors at SciTech Academy and whatever high school she’d be placed at would be no different.

When Andrew dropped her off at the Academy she wasn’t really surprised to see the prim-looking African-American woman. She was exactly the kind of person that Skye expected at a place like this. According to Fury, she was the newly appointed head of SciTech Academy, Dr. Anne Weaver. Spotting her, Dr. Weaver smiled warmly. “Good morning, Skye. How are you?”

Skye readjusted her laptop bag, suspicious of the woman’s warmth. “Fine,” Skye vacillated.

Dr. Weaver seemed not to notice the cold-shoulder vibe Skye was trying to project. “Don’t worry, you only have to be here for a day. The High School Placement Exam that is set by the state isn’t that long. I promise to try to make this as painless as possible.”

The office Dr. Weaver put her in was small, but Skye was impressed. There were all kinds of snacks and drinks set off to one side. On a table, there was a stack of blank paper, small toys to play with, a radio with a number of smartphone connectors and a TV hung on the wall.

“We do the SciTech placement exam in here as well. We find it best to encourage our applicants to test and study the way that they do best.”

“Cool,” Skye said without any enthusiasm behind the word. She just wanted to get this over with.

The test was a god-awful, three hour-long exam that covered English, History, Math, Science, and Geography. By the end of it, Skye was positive she had failed the entire thing. Like her teachers had implied, she was too stupid for any of it.

Once it was over, she was allowed to pull out the lunch Melinda had packed her as well as her laptop. She picked up where she had left off on the program she’d been working on to help her hack into Stark Industries. It wasn’t that there was anything she wanted to see, but hacking the eccentric, misogynistic, genius billionaire was a little like climbing Everest. Hackers generally did it for bragging rights.

Weaver was running the scantrons Skye had filled out through the machines and was frowning a little. Skye couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty. She didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially when they were putting so much effort into helping her.

Skye jumped when the knock came at the door and Andrew entered. He smiled easily. “How was it?” Andrew asked.

Skye groaned. “I failed. I know I did.”

Andrew laughed a little. “We talked about this, remember? You can’t fail this type of test. It doesn’t work like that.”

“I hate school,” Skye complained. “I’m not smart enough.”

Andrew frowned but was cut off by Dr. Weaver. “I’d disagree with that statement,” she argued.

That got their attention. Dr. Weaver came over and sat in front of both of them. “You scored in the twentieth to thirtieth percentile for Geography, English, and History and the ninety-ninth percentile in Science and Math,” she explained.

Andrew’s eyebrows furrowed looking from Weaver to Skye and back. “What does that mean?”

Dr. Weaver smiled kindly at Skye. “We see it a lot in people with genius-level intelligence,” she continued.

Skye stared, wide-eyed at Weaver for a moment, then laughed out loud, coldly. She raised her eyebrows when Andrew and Weaver didn’t join in. “You _can’t_ be serious,” Skye denied. “I was a D student, even when I went to class.”

Weaver nodded with a look of patience, as if explaining something very basic to someone. “Unfortunately the US Education system, particularly public schools with large classroom sizes, relies on a method of education that’s primarily regurgitation. For those who can’t pay attention due to focus issues, or the work is too hard or in this case too easy, even kids with tough home situations… the cards are stacked against them and they’re basically set up to fail.”

Skye shook her head. “But I scored badly in English, History, and Geography.”

“All subjects that are subjective to the teacher teaching them,” Andrew assured her. “You changed teachers too often to be given the chance to learn anything.”

“They’re also subjects that build upon themselves. If you miss information In the classroom, you're at a severe disadvantage. We’d like to do some follow up tests for the rest of the week to narrow down where you should be placing based on your knowledge base and skillsets. Director Fury said you were a hacker?” Skye nodded. “May I ask what you’re currently working on?”

Skye blushed. “I’ve been working on a program to simulate a brute force attack on Stark Industries. Since most hackers don’t know about SHIELD, SI is kinda like Everest.”

Weaver smiled and nodded. “I’ve heard some of the Computer Engineering students talking about it. Doesn’t Stark make it impossibly hard to get into his network, then hire whomever can?”

Skye smiled, happy to get off the topic of her intelligence and onto something she felt comfortable talking about. “Yeah, but most hackers are in it for the challenge and the glory, not the job.”

“If I recall, only three people have managed it.” Weaver remarked in amusement. “I have no doubt you could be the fourth. After all, you’re the only person to have ever hacked SHIELD without getting caught.”

Skye blushed. “Just because I’m good at hacking, doesn’t make me smart,” Skye pointed out.

“It doesn’t mean you aren’t,” Andrew pointed out. “Take the tests. Prove it to yourself.”

“And if I just fail them all again?” Skye asked, bracing herself for the response.

“Then we know what classes you need to take and what you need to study,” Weaver responded calmly. “But I don’t think it will be as bad as you fear.”

Skye sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll take the tests,” she conceded.

Four days later, Skye was regretting her decision. Weaver had put her through all manner of tests. Skye hated every second of it.

“Okay, Skye,” Weaver consoled after the IQ test she had made Skye take Friday morning. “That’s the last test you needed to take. Do you want to see the results?”

“I really don’t need a graphical representation telling me that I’m an idiot,” Skye argued dryly.

“Your IQ is 175,” Weaver countered, mirroring her tone. “If we gave out diplomas based on pure knowledge, you’d have a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering. You have enough experience to with Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics to have Bachelor’s degrees in each.”

“So why did I bomb every math test I ever took in school?” Skye asked softly.

Weaver looked thoughtful. “Can you explain the steps to make a pizza? And I mean from the _very_ beginning.”

Skye thought about it for a moment. “I… no. There are too many basic steps that I assume I don’t know.”

“A lot of times, high school tests are all about if you can show your work. When you can do it in your head, it’s assumed as truth. After all, no high school teacher ever thinks you need to prove one and one is two, it simply is.”

“So I’m guessing I don’t have to go to high school?” Skye asked.

Andrew laughed. “You still have to get your diploma, Skye,” he concluded. “And if you want to work outside of SHIELD, it’s a good idea to go to college.”

“I might recommend coming here. We have enough connections that we can give you materials that would fill in the gaps of your education and any work you do in addition can be transferred as college credit.”

Skye couldn’t believe her ears. One of the reasons why she left New York is that she thought there was no chance that a college would ever grant her admittance, certainly not without her paying full price, which she couldn’t afford. All her life, she had been told that her bad grades were her fault, that she needed to concentrate more, that she needed to work harder. It was the extra incentive she needed to leave the foster system and High School and disappear forever. Eventually, she started to just give up, and everything she learned, she’d learned from books in the library. She had had a tentative plan to earn her GED in some other town out west, but that had gone out the window when she’d accidentally fallen asleep in the wrong apartment.

“We can pick this up on Monday,” Dr. Weaver. “You have an appointment at the Triskellion?”

Skye grimaced. “Yeah,” she muttered, stiffening at the thought.

Weaver gave her a soft smile. “It won’t be so bad. You’ll see.”

Andrew drove her to the Triskellion. She had gained a bit of a rapport with Andrew and they had begun to chat on the commutes in and home every day. Andrew had been proud that between him and Melinda, Bobbi, and Natasha, and even Clint a little, they were pulling Skye out of her shell ever so slowly. In three weeks, he was starting to see bits and pieces of the actual Skye and not the uncertain, anxious, despondent shell they had found in Clint’s apartment. But on this trip, she seemed to have reverted to her old self. She said nothing, jumped at loud noises, and was currently trying to make herself as small as possible. When Andrew pulled into his assigned parking space, Skye made no moves to get out of the car.

“Skye? You ready?” Andrew asked curiously. She didn’t seem to hear him so after a minute, he prompted her again. “Skye?”

“He said it was my fault,” Skye commented so quietly Andrew almost didn’t hear her. Andrew wanted her to clarify, but he knew it wasn’t the time to speak up. “He said that so many foster homes… he said that it was Occam's Razor. That it was my fault.”

Andrew closed his eyes for a moment. If this was what he thought it was, this explained a lot. “Skye, it wasn’t,” he reassured her softly. “You know it wasn’t. It was an unauthorized SHIELD protocol. Fury told us that.”

“They made me go every time a family sent me back,” Skye whimpered, her voice wavering. “Please don’t make me go.”

Andrew felt his heart break a little. “You need to go,” he sighed. “Not because I want to hurt you, but because I think you need a sounding board. Proper talk therapy is about finding answers within yourself rather than in other people. You have so many people who love you, Skye, but it’s important to have someone outside of a situation to help you figure out solutions.”

Skye nodded and disentangled herself from the seatbelt before getting out of the car. Andrew followed her. He led her to a back hall of the therapy wing, feeling Skye get tenser with every step. By the time they reached Skye’s therapist’s office, Andrew was fighting the urge to take her home again. He vaguely wondered where this parental urge came from so quickly. It had only been a few weeks, but Skye had seemed to turn their lives upside-down in the best way imaginable.

Since Melinda would be back after a week away, Andrew had thought they could go to a movie, but after this revelation he knew that therapy session days would be nights-in for a little while, until Skye gained trust that Dr. Wells wasn’t about to blame her for things outside of her control. Andrew hated that Skye hadn’t seemed to catch a break for the first fifteen years of her life. He knew things in the system could be bad, but Skye seemed to have fallen through every crack.

Andrew knocked on Dr. Wells’ door. “Skye, can you wait out here for a moment?” Skye nodded imperceptibly.

“Dr. Wells,” Andrew offered. “Can I talk to you for a second before Skye’s session?”

Dr. Wells got up from her chair looking a little cross. “Dr. Garner. I told you before, you’re a guardian in this situation. You can’t make suggestions or tell me what I’m doing wrong. Especially when I haven’t even started.”

Andrew suppressed a smile. “Are you done?”

“Yes,” Dr. Wells frowned.

“As Skye’s Guardian, she revealed something to me in the car that would affect your treatment. It’s possible that the therapist who saw Skye while she was in the system emotionally abused her by telling her it was all her fault that she was abused and sent back so many times.”

Wells made a note in her file. “Thank you for telling me. This does change things. Can you send Skye in on your way out?”

Andrew nodded. “Yes. I can do that.” He opened the door. “I’ll be back in an hour,” he told Skye.

Skye nodded and went into the room. Andrew didn’t really expect her to talk this session. Trust wasn’t easily won from Skye, and Andrew didn’t know if it ever would be.

Andrew went up to Fury’s office. “Andrew, I was expecting you.” Fury boomed. “How are things at home?”

“Not horrible,” Andrew confided honestly. “She still has nightmares every night and I want to strangle the people at New York DCFS. I wanted to know how things were going with that?”

“They agreed to transfer custody, but it took some doing. Her caseworker is a piece of work,” Fury answered.

Andrew groaned. “Because one thing going well for Skye would be too easy.”

“Once she learned Skye wasn’t in legal custody, she wanted Skye to be returned to DCFS custody so we could make the exchange properly.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Andrew disagreed. “Mel and I won’t let it.”

“I talked her down for now, don’t worry,” Fury assured him. “I mean, I _may_ have mentioned something about suing the city, but…”

“Can SHIELD do that?” Andrew asked, thinking it might be a path they should seriously consider.

“SHIELD can’t, but we could have on Skye’s behalf. You and Melinda can now that you two are her legal guardians.”

“That’s a question for another time,” Andrew considered. “If it’s the best course of action for Skye… if everyone agrees that it wouldn’t hurt Skye psychologically. Did you get the other paperwork I asked you for?”

“I did. Don’t you think it’s a little soon for adoption papers?” Fury asked.

“I’ve talked to Mel about this the couple of times she’s been able to call in,” Andrew explained. “Skye needs to know that she’ll always have us. That we’re hers now and forever. That no one can take her away from us, not even SHIELD.”

“SHIELD wouldn’t…” Fury started.

Andrew held up his hand. “You wouldn’t,” he pointed out. “Both of us know I have clearance to see that intake file because of my position here. And I’m totally supportive of not telling Skye that she’s a 0-8-4, but it’s on the record. Someone could try and argue that if she’s in SHIELD custody, they can do unspeakable things to Skye. I just want her safe.”

“Fair point,” Fury conceded.

“He tends to make those,” came a voice from the door. Andrew smiled, recognizing Melinda’s voice. He got up and greeted his wife with a hug and a kiss.

“Your flight okay?” he asked her.

“Fine. Would have been smoother if they let me fly transport,” Melinda greeted with a smile.

“They have to give some of the other people jobs, honey,” Andrew bantered happily.

“Hmmm, how’s Skye today?”

“She didn’t sleep much last night, and there’s a possibility that her State-appointed psychologist was telling her that everything that happened to her was her fault,” Andrew revealed.

“That could certainly explain some things,” Melinda conceded softly. “We’ll have to work twice as hard to convince her that it wasn’t.”

“Fury got us the Adoption papers, and we’re officially Skye’s foster parents,” Andrew disclosed.

“Good,” Melinda agreed. “We can talk to her about it tonight.”

“Pizza and ice cream?” Andrew asked. Melinda gave him a _look_. Melinda always ate healthier than he did.

“I don’t know,” she hedged. “Fat and ice cream isn’t exactly good right before bed. And I’m sure you two have been eating like this all week.

“It’s not like she couldn’t use the weight right now, Mel,” Andrew argued calmly. “Plus I’m fairly sure we’re going to need to figure out comfort foods for dinner after her sessions for a while.”

A knock came to the door. “Enter.”

“Fury, got that report on the Welcome Wagon you asked for before I went home,” Coulson interrupted striding in. He stopped when he saw Melinda and Andrew “Sorry, I didn’t know you two were here.”

“It’s fine, we were just discussing Skye’s case,” Melinda explained.

“Skye?” Coulson asked. “Was there a development?”

“DCFS turned over custody, which I’m giving to Melinda and Andrew,” Fury said.

Coulson wilted a little. “Yeah, I kind of figured you would,” he acknowledged. “Can I see her? Is she doing okay? Barton told me she spent a few days in medical.”

Andrew and Melinda exchanged a glance. “She’s doing better,” Melinda conceded carefully. “Today’s probably not the _best_ day to see her. She’s in a therapy session right now. We consulted Skye and agreed that social visits after therapy sessions were a bad idea for a while.”

Coulson nodded, but looked a little hurt. “Maybe we could arrange a time to visit. Clint said that he hadn’t seen her since the night you brought her home.”

“Maybe tomorrow afternoon?” Melinda suggested. “We’re going to the Ops Academy because Nat wants to start teaching Skye how to lie and misdirect a target. Once her ribs heal, we’ll start on combat training, but for now we’re concentrating on non-combative skills.”

“We’ll meet you for lunch?” Coulson suggested.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Melinda confirmed. “We’re gonna go pick up Skye. Her session’s almost over.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye experiences #familyfridays for the first time and starts to bond with Melinda and Andrew. At school, she is introduced to two people her age who may be familiar to some. And in therapy, Skye experiences a breakthrough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, love and thanks goes to Lady Winterlight for beta'ing this chapter.

Skye was quiet when they picked her up from her session. Like when Andrew had dropped her off, she seemed to curl into herself and was severely withdrawn. 

“You want pizza for dinner?” Melinda asked, caving to pizza to try and draw Skye out.

“Sure,” Skye whispered, not meeting her eyes.

“What’s your favorite kind?” Melinda prodded. Skye shrugged her shoulders, but Melinda refused to give up.

“Pepperoni?” A shrug. “Bacon?” Another shrug. “Anchovy?” Skye blanched, wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “Hot dogs? Coconut?” Skye gained a small smile and shook her head. “Pineapple?” 

“Sausage,” Skye divulged quietly. “I like sausage.”

Melinda smiled. “One vegetarian, one sausage it is then,” she ordered. Once she was finished speaking to the pizza place, she turned to Skye. “You ever seen any classic movies?”

“I’ve seen E.T. …” Skye recalled slowly.

“That’s just sad,” Andrew teased. “I think a triple-feature is in order.  His Girl Friday ,  Roman Holiday , and  The Wizard of Oz tonight.”

“You don’t seem like the type to enjoy Munchkins,” Skye murmured, surprised.

“I... tolerate them,” Melinda considered slowly. From the look on her face, Melinda had a very specific definition of ‘tolerate’.

“What she means is, she plots the best ways to kill them during the scenes with munchkins in them,” Andrew explained. “You should hear the things she has planned for the Lollipop Guild.”

“Shove those lollipops where the sun don’t shine,” Melinda muttered, though she was smiling. “Andrew’s a fan of old films.”

“Classic films,” Andrew corrected. “I like  _ classic _ films.”

“So this is how you guys spend Friday nights?” Skye asked.

“Minus the pizza, pretty much,” Andrew confirmed. “Sometimes we go to a film festival, but we’re pretty boring. Sorry.”

“No,” Skye disagreed, looking down to her lap. “Boring is good. I like boring.” She didn’t offer up any information past that, but Andrew and Melinda didn’t press her.

As the evening progressed, Skye came back to herself a little bit, sharing her IQ with Melinda and Andrew between movies. Skye was tense in the silence that followed. Melinda and Andrew looked at each other. “Okay, stop with the looks,” Skye snapped. “Just say it.”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll be forced to go back to High School,” Andrew conceded. “We’re just need to figure out what’s the best course of action for you. And that might not be with SHIELD.”

“What do you mean?” Skye asked quietly.

“We’re your guardians, Skye,” Melinda consoled. “That’s through the courts, not through SHIELD. Our responsibility is to you. If you want, we could arrange for that to be permanent.”

“W-what?” Skye asked.

“We have paperwork to adopt you, if you’d like,” Andrew continued carefully. “If you don’t, it won’t change anything and we won’t take it personally.”

Skye’s eyes went wide and she made a small, high-pitched noise at their declaration.

“Take all the time you’d like to think about this,” Melinda added. “We’re well-aware that it’s only been two weeks. But we intend to prove to you that what you see is what you get, here.”

“Can we watch another movie, please?” Skye squeaked in a small voice.

“Sure,” Andrew acquiesced. “You still haven’t seen Melinda curse out the munchkins yet.”

After the credits rolled, they all sat in silence, thinking quietly about the last couple weeks. “Why?” Skye asked quietly. “Why could you possibly want me? What if… what if I still hate school? What if I… what if I really am bad, like all those foster parents told me I was? What if I’m thirty and still living at home because I can’t hold down a job? Because I can’t respect authority? How could you possibly want me after two weeks?”

Melinda set down her bowl of popcorn. “I’m not going to lie to you,” she promised. “You’re too smart for that, and I’m not talking about your IQ. A large part of why I want to adopt you is because of your past. You don't have a home. And whether you’re four or forty, you deserve one.”

“Whatever you do, Skye, we’ll always be here for you,” Andrew began supportively. “Even if you’re… thirty and still living here.”

Skye’s eyes filled up with tears, then suddenly she burst into sobs. Andrew couldn’t hold Melinda back any more from wrapping her arms around Skye. It seemed that fifteen years of pain and grief that had been bottled up inside her was now pouring out. Melinda held on, refusing to let go and making sure that Skye had someone there, grounding her to the present. Eventually, Skye fell asleep in Melinda’s arms. 

“Should we move her upstairs?” Andrew asked.

Melinda shook her head. “Bring down some pillows and blankets. I don’t want to disturb her. Do you think...”

“The fact that she felt comfortable crying in front of us is a really good thing, Mel,” Andrew murmured in a low tone. “Skye wouldn’t do that unless she feel safe.”

“I’ll stay with her tonight,” Melinda volunteered. “Just in case she needs me.”

The night passed without a nightmare for the first time since they had found Skye. Melinda was awake before Skye for a change. Andrew came down and started the coffee, handing a mug to Melinda. Melinda got up and they went into the kitchen where the light was on.

“Quiet night?” he asked her.

“Not a single nightmare,” she revealed softly with a smile. “This is the longest she’s slept since we found her.” 

“We should get her up soon. Nat’s meeting with her is in two hours.”

Skye stirred, sensed the light that was on in the kitchen and shut her eyes tightly and groaned. She pulled the her blanket over her face and rolled over. 

“Almost time to get up, Skye,” Melinda called. “We have to leave for the Triskellion in an hour.”

Skye groaned, sat up, then blushed when she realized where she was. She wiped sleep from her eyes and smoothed down her hair. She padded upstairs to her room without a word to either of them.

Melinda went up ten minutes after with a plate of food and found Skye sitting on her bed. Skye’s cheeks reddened when Melinda knocked on the door. “You know you need breakfast before we leave,” she cajoled.

“I’m fine,” Skye muttered quietly.

“Come on, if you don’t eat, medical’s going to get on my ass,” Melinda pleaded lightly. “You can’t afford to skip meals.”

“I’m not really hungry,” Skye denied hesitantly. The young woman clearly  _ was _ hungry.

“Is this about last night?” Melinda asked. Skye stiffened. “Skye, I meant what I said. You deserve a home. You’re beautiful, and strong, and resourceful, and  _ worth it _ . I’ll always be here if you need a shoulder to cry on. I’ll always be here no matter what you need. There’s no shame in tears, Skye. There’s no shame in feeling anger or sadness or any of it. If you’d like, I can teach you how to control it - channel it.”

“I’d really like that,” Skye admitted.

“Good. You can start by eating your breakfast,” Melinda pressed gently. “We leave in thirty.”

An hour and a half later, Skye entered an empty gym with Melinda and saw Bobbi and Natasha standing in the middle of some mats. “Skye, welcome to Target Exploitation 101,” Bobbi greeted. 

“Also known as ‘Playing to Win Doesn’t Count as Cheating,’” Natasha joked. Bobbi and Melinda both rolled their eyes. Natasha pretended not to notice. “We have to wait another few weeks for those ribs to heal before we start training you in combat, so we’re going to teach you how to lie, manipulate, and talk your way into and out of any situation you need to.”

“Bobbi is one of our better undercovers that we have,” Melinda revealed. “She was given top marks at the Academy and is one of our go-tos for information gathering.”

Skye looked at Natasha timidly. “What about you?” Skye challenged.

“I was a weapon for the Russian government,” Natasha explained. “A Russian spy for the Soviet government. Lying was as simple as breathing for me growing up. Much like you, Pauchok.”

“I’m okay,” Skye defended, intending the double meaning.

Natasha nodded. “I can make you better. Tough childhoods forge a much easier ability to lie. It’s a survival instinct.”

They spent all morning working on subterfuge. According to Natasha, they’d meet back again in the afternoon to start teaching her how to pickpocket.

Skye and Melinda went to the cafeteria, where there were a smattering of agents eating. Melinda led Skye to a corner where Skye spotted Clint and Coulson. Skye froze in place for a moment. 

“Hey Skye,” Clint greeted with an easy grin. He made no move to get up, remembering how skittish she’d been around him. “Nat tells me you’ve started training.”

“Yeah,” Skye agreed awkwardly. She remembered Clint was kind, certainly, but his bulk still made her nervous. At least he was slightly less intimidating while seated.

“How are your ribs and ankle?” Clint asked curiously. 

“They’re better,” Skye said softly. She looked at Melinda who smiled reassuringly.

“And the bedroom, how’s that?”

“It’s nice. I still don’t see why I needed that storage frame. I don’t have anything to store.”

“Clint and Coulson have been asking about you and we thought maybe we could meet for lunch?” Melinda hesitated. She then grimaced. “I messed this up, didn’t I? I should have talked to you about it first?”

Skye smiled. “It’s okay,” she consoled. “I… I think… I can handle lunch.” 

“Okay, but if you need a break, it’s okay,” Melinda whispered. Skye nodded.

Coulson stood up. “I don’t know if you remember me but I’m…”

“Agent Coulson. You brought Chinese to Clint’s house,” Skye filled in, keeping her distance. Coulson had been nice to her, but even so she had gotten the distinct impression that if Skye had been any danger to Clint, Phil Coulson could have killed her with one of the chopsticks that came with the Chinese.

Despite that, she trusted Melinda. If Melinda trusted Clint and Coulson, then Skye knew they could be trusted, but that didn’t mean her instincts weren’t making her well aware of how dangerous both Clint and Coulson seemed. Coulson nodded. “I hear you made quite the impression on the new head of SciTech Academy.”

“There are about a dozen teenagers my age there,” Skye denied softly. “I’m sure she’s seen people with more impressive resumes then a High School dropout with a high IQ.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Clint said with a smile. “And unless I’m wrong, SHIELD’s working to fix the High School dropout thing.”

Melinda nodded. They settled into eating lunch, making small talk. Skye sat stiffly as Melinda, Clint, and Coulson talked, letting Skye mostly listen. They didn’t talk about anything classified but Clint had a lot of funny stories about SHIELD life that he shared. It was hard not to enjoy the conversation. Coulson kept shooting her worried looks, but she tried her best to ignore him, feeling her cheeks ever so slowly heat up.

After lunch, to her relief, Skye was able to impress Natasha with her pickpocketing skills. Still, it seemed Skye had plenty to learn on the topic from the master spy, like how to reverse pickpocket someone.

On Sunday, Melinda and Andrew took Skye mini golfing. Apparently, the couple usually played regular golf on Sundays and Skye was surprised to find that she wasn’t opposed to learning. After mini golf, Melinda and Andrew took her to the putting green where they showed her the basics of actual golf. Skye couldn’t help but be a little impressed. It was harder than she expected.

“Don’t worry about skill, Skye. We don’t even keep score,” Andrew quipped.

“ _ You  _ don’t keep score,” Melinda challenged, but she was smiling.

“Why am I not surprised?” Skye asked mockingly.

“Not everything is about keeping score, Mel,” Andrew teased.

“It’s good to learn how to win and lose,” Melinda teased her husband. “No one wins all the time.”

“Don’t let Nat hear you say that,” Skye jested with a grin. “She strikes me as someone who likes to win.”

“She does,” Melinda agreed. “It’s why she’s one of our best agents. She’s relentless. Operational operatives are required to train sixty hours each week minimum when they’re not on-mission. Natasha trains more about eighty.”

“You train here, right?” Skye guessed, having witnessed Melinda’s training. 

“Morning warm-ups and evening cool-downs at least,” Melinda confirmed. “It’s not a life that is meant for most people. We don’t have many time-consuming hobbies, we don’t have much as far as social lives. Few of us are married and those of us who are met our spouses at SHIELD. I’m not saying this to… scare you. More like warn you. I want you to make an informed decision on where you want to go in life.”

Skye nodded. “Agents… they died protecting me,” she said finally. “I’d like to do something that honors their memory. And right now... it feels like SHIELD is the right place to be.”

Andrew nodded. “Just let us know if that ever changes,” he requested.

“Yeah,” Skye agreed. “Will do.” 

“So what’s the plan for the week?” Melinda asked. She liked to hear Andrew and Skye’s plans even though she couldn’t share much of her own. 

“Just sessions like every week,” Andrew shrugged. “A couple of new guys, a couple patients get moved down to less frequent sessions. Nothing particularly exciting.”

“Considering the last time something exciting happened on the psychology level of the Triskellion, it turned into a hostage situation, I’m glad that nothing exciting there happens often,” Melinda explained. 

“Hostage situation?” Skye asked in shock.

Andrew shrugged. “The whole thing lasted about thirty minutes,” he said. “It’s SHIELD. Even psychologists go through basic training. We might not be field-ready, but we’re pretty good in a crisis like that.”

“Weaver wants me to meet some SciTech agents,” Skye said. “I think she’s trying to convince me to sign up for SciTech academy.”

“Do you want to?” Andrew asked.

Skye shrugged. “I’m not really qualified,” she admitted. “And I was never really the type to be in a lab all day.”

“You could become qualified,” Melinda pointed out. “Earn a Ph.D. Become an engineer. Or whatever you wanted.”

“And if you change your mind, you’ll at least have a degree for a backup plan.”

“What so, go to Georgetown or something?” Skye asked. “Do you really think I can?”

“Skye, I think you can do anything,” Andrew said.

Skye colored, but only slightly. “Thanks. I’m - I’m starting to actually believe that.”

\------------

Monday, despite Skye’s objections, Weaver wanted to introduce her some SciTech Academy cadets. Something about giving her a chance to socialize with people closer to her own age and of similar IQs. Weaver left her in an empty office. It didn't take long for Skye to get bored, her attention being drawn to the math on the board. She couldn’t help but spot the error in the equation and the longer she stared at it, the more obvious it became. The more obvious it became, the more she wanted to fix it.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the eraser and the dry erase marker. “What are you doing?” exclaimed a heavily accented voice. Skye flinched back, dropping the marker though she was almost done rewriting the equation. A lanky teenager with severely curly hair had rushed in and grabbed the marker, looking angrily from Skye to the board.

“Sorry, I -” she stammered. “I can change it back…”

The teenager did a double-take looking at the board. “Wait… this fixes my conversion problem…” he realized, in a tone of surprise and wonder.

“I didn’t mean… I’m… It was just…” Skye stammered. “Sometimes I can’t help but fix math when it’s wrong.”

“I’m sorry I yelled,” the teenager apologized softly, his voice dropping as he picked up on her distress. “When Dr. Weaver told us to come in here and meet someone… I suppose I’m a little possessive of my work.”

Skye took a deep breath. This guy wasn’t a threat to her, she reminded herself. And he was no longer angry. She wasn’t in danger. “It’s fine,” she dismissed softly, repeating her mantra in her head. “I shouldn’t have… messed with it.”

“I’ve been working on that problem for weeks and you fixed a problem that I’ve been trying to solve,” he explained, clearly impressed. He extended a hand. “I’m Leo Fitz, by the way. Everyone calls me Fitz.”

“I’m Skye,” she informed him.

A knock on the door startled Skye, but she managed not to jump at the sound.

“Ah, I see you’ve already met Cadet Fitz. Skye, this is Cadet Simmons.” 

“Call me Simmons, please,” Simmons declared primely. Skye gave a little wave. “Are you a new recruit?”

The question was blunt, though rather expected. “Something like that,” Skye hedged, not really sure what her status was at SHIELD. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to meet with Weaver on the topic of her goals, and the possibility of her going to college.

“Skye isn’t officially a cadet,” Weaver explained. “We found her under an unusual set of circumstances and found that she has a 175 IQ, but still needs to obtain her GED.”

“Ah,” Jemma huffed. The barest hint of disappointment in Jemma’s tone made it clear to Skye what Jemma thought of this development. 

“So you’re considering joining SHIELD?” Fitz asked curiously, excitement on his face. She shifted her weight nervously. “You should. We have the best toys here. What field are you in?”

“Computer science,” Skye declared. “With an emphasis on Network Security.” 

“So you were a hacker before you came here?” Fitz asked excitedly. Skye nodded slightly. “Cool. I’m a mechanical engineer. Simmons is in biochem. You should check out the basement here. A bunch of computer programmers meet down there when everyone else is asleep and teach each other new things.”

“I’m not… I don’t stay in the dorms, so…” Skye confessed slowly. 

“Maybe we can provide you some equipment so you can connect in,” Weaver suggested. Fitz looked at her, a little shocked. “Yes, we know about the Hack Club. The best hackers display tendencies of insomnia and an obsession for puzzle-solving that makes them optimal candidates for this line of work. We encourage our candidates to learn in the best ways they can. Or haven’t you noticed that most of their classes start later in the day?” Fitz opened and shut his mouth, exchanging a look with Simmons. “I trust that you two will make Skye feel at home here at SciTech as we settle her in. Many of her projects at first may work towards earning a diploma, but she’ll still share the same lunch as the rest of the academy and there will be time after her projects for socializing. I wanted to introduce Skye to you two because you’d know the right people to introduce her to.”

“Of course,” Fitz beamed with a warm, welcoming smile.

“Welcome to SHIELD,” Jemma grinned welcomingly.

Skye had a meeting with her primary tutor next, which made Skye painfully aware of how dull some of the next few months were going to be. They at least had designed a program to move at her speed and minimized homework, which Skye appreciated. At least when Andrew picked her up, she’d be done for the day. And she didn’t have to come in on the weekends. Still, given her tutor’s timeline, it was going to take her until September to get her diploma.

After that, she had her Monday session with her therapist. Her therapist seemed to catch on that she wasn’t comfortable with speaking and gave her a sheet of butcher’s paper and told her to draw during their next session. Skye thought it was pretty stupid, but it was better than her therapists who tried to get her to answer or tried to get a rise out of her. Before she knew it, the entire hour had passed without Dr. Wells asking her a single question. 

She was so happy that she actually smiled at Andrew when he came to pick her up. Unfortunately, Melinda didn’t let them have pizza and instead they were back to eating healthy. Melinda then tossed her some workout clothes towards bedtime. “Come on,” Melinda cajoled. “Join me for evening PT.”

Skye hesitated for a moment, then changed and met Melinda a moment later in the front hallway. “How far are we going tonight?”

“We’ll start at a mile and work our way up,” Melinda explained. 

Skye semi-begrudgingly followed her as Melinda started at what was probably a very slow pace. A couple people waved at them as they passed. “What do they think you do?” Skye asked as Melinda waved back at one particular woman who looked about Melinda’s age.

“What do you mean?” Melinda asked, curiously looking at her without breaking her stride.

“You seem fairly well known around here, and you said everyone around here has a cover story that’s just accepted,” Skye noted.

“My cover is that I’m an investment banker,” Melinda clarified after a moment. “To them, Andrew’s a therapist in the city. Did you have a good day at the academy?”

“I hate school,” Skye grumbled softly. “But at least we’re going at my speed. They’re making me review math and science despite my scores but at least the projects are pretty interesting. They’re saying I’ve just got holes in my education is all. I skipped class a lot, in middle school and High School.”

“You won’t be doing that here,” Melinda declared. It didn’t sound like a threat or even a promise. It was as if Melinda just knew that Skye wasn’t going to be skipping her lessons at SciTech. Andrew’s and Melinda’s confidence in Skye sometimes astounded her. Even it had only been a couple of weeks, she was already starting to get a feeling like she had at the Brodys’. Even if she believed them (and that was a really big if), that she deserved a home, she couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop. 

One thing was for sure, she didn’t want to lose this, and she was going to do everything she could to make sure Melinda and Andrew thought that them taking her in would be worth it. “I guess it’d be kind of hard,” Skye giggled. “Since I’m the only kid in the class.”

Melinda shared her smirk and picked up the pace. “Race you home,” she challenged. Skye couldn’t help but grin, even as she struggled to keep up.

\--------------

The rest of the week passed without being too eventful. She got up at the same time every morning, Andrew took her to SciTech and they chatted about a variety of topics, she did her school work, she had after-school activities, and she joined Mel each night for Evening PT. 

As far as therapy went, Skye’s Wednesday session passed the same as the previous one. Her therapist handed her a sheet of paper and let her draw the entire time; by her Friday session, Skye was wondering what was going on, but she said nothing to her therapist.

With only five minutes to go before Andrew picked her up, Skye finally snapped. “Aren’t you going to ask me questions and make me talk about my childhood?” she asked sharply.

Dr. Wells looked up from what she was doing. “Do you want to talk about your childhood?” she asked.

“No,” Skye mumbled, frowning.

“Is  there something you do want to talk about?” Dr. Wells asked.

“No,” Skye repeated in the same tone, looking down at her drawing. She was resisting the urge not to cry, feeling vulnerable and scared. 

Dr. Wells nodded. “I’m never going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to talk about, Skye,” she asserted.

Skye frowned, concentrating on what she was doing. “A lot of people have said that to me,” she argued firmly.

“I know. And I know a lot of people have lied to you,” Dr. Wells acknowledged. “So, we do this at your pace. But I won’t lie to you. You’ve already said a lot to me in our past few sessions.”

“What?” Skye puzzled. “But I’ve barely said two words to you before today.” She didn’t want to bring up the disaster of their first session. Skye had had a panic attack no less than five minutes in and Dr. Wells had spent the entire hour calming her down. In the end, Wells prescribed her anxiety medication.

Dr. Wells nodded. “You know, sometimes when it’s too hard to talk about something, it’s easier to draw it or write about it or create something from your feelings. But just because you don’t say anything doesn’t mean I don’t hear what you aren’t saying. How else do you think I get all these big, tough agents to talk about their feelings?”

Skye shrugged. “I guess I kind of assumed you had to get them drunk first. Or they just didn’t talk.” Dr. Wells grinned at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the next two weeks. I won't be updating until January 7th. I hope everyone experiences some lovely winter holidays!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye gets to visit the Boiler Room with Fitz and a chain reaction occurs that will permanently change Skye's path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back home! I went to my childhood hometown for Christmas to see my family and got to spend time with LadyWinterlight, my beta, best friend, and generally awesome person. I had a great time, though I do now remember why I hate the midwest.
> 
> Just a warning, there's a small scene of sexual harassment and an attempted sexual assault.
> 
> If you need to skip the whole chapter, I won't be hurt, but if you're fine just skipping the scene, stop reading at "third whiskey" and you can start again at "anxiety medication"
> 
> If you need a more spoilery warning, please scroll to the end notes.

Weeks passed and Wells was true her word, letting Skye ‘drive’ during their sessions. Mostly, Skye just drew. She actually found that she liked it, not that she was really any good. She mostly just drew abstract pictures, unable to draw anything distinct. It was nice though, to have time just to clear her mind and let things just come out on the page organically. 

A month after Skye came to live with Melinda and Andrew, Fitz finally convinced her to come back to SciTech Academy after her dinner, because he wanted to show her something. 

“Oh good, you’re here,” Fitz said when Skye knocked on his dorm room door. “Come on,” he demanded. He grabbed her wrist and led her outside.

“Uh, where are we going?” Skye queried curiously.

“The Boiler Room,” Fitz declared simply.

“The what now?” Skye asked.

“It’s this place we all go to hang out at night, Fitz stated. “Especially on Friday nights. I’ve been wanting to bring you here for a while.” 

Skye got nervous when Fitz opened the door and she saw the club. She grew nervous but decided to swallow her nerves. For one night, she wanted to be normal. “This is…” Skye started carefully. “Interesting.”

“The philosophy here is kinda ‘work hard, play hard’,” Fitz explained. “Come on, there are people that I want you to meet.”

Fitz led her towards the bar. “Skye, this is Jo Mench. Jo this is Skye,” he introduced. “Before I met you, Skye, Jo was the best programmer I know.”

“I’m Skyenet,” Skye greeted, extending her hand. “Not twenty-one, by the way.”

Jo uncapped a nonalcoholic beer and put it on the table in front of Skye before taking it. “MoJoFoSho,” Jo drawled in a slightly southern twang. Skye recognized the username. She had been given a VPN login to join the Hack Club remotely by Weaver. Jo had introduced her to several techniques that would allow Skye to delete herself from any database without leaving a trace. Based on her appearance, Jo was clearly an older recruit.

“You program like you learned on the DarkNet,” Skye noted. 

Jo nodded. “I was a blackhat hacker before SHIELD recruited me. Got a PhD while I was hacking the fat cats and releasing their tax returns onto the internet. Sometimes I took a cut so I could pay for food and rent. SHIELD caught me and I started my first year this past fall. I might be older than most of the recruits here, but I make up for it in life experience.”

“I know a little something about that,” Skye grinned. “So do you guys take turns being bartenders or is this a part-time gig?”

“The CS cadets took over bartending duties during the FORTRAN days,” Jo boasted. “Something of an inside joke. You know what they say about computer scientists.”

"Work hard, play hard," Skye agreed. It was a stereotype, but one that seemed pretty true. She tried to shove her association with people drinking alcohol away and just relax and have a good time. 

Fitz looked happy as Skye grabbed a stool and Jo and Skye started talking about the latest project that the Hack Club was working on. Currently they were trying to work on a program to centralize all the systems on a project called HC-64. Since Skye wasn’t a SHIELD cadet, she had to sign a number of NDA documents in order to be included in the project, but Skye was having a lot of fun in the small hours of the morning helping them tweak the code in Unix.

Skye sipped her beer, people-watching as Jo served them alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. Jo seemed to know almost on instinct who was twenty-one and who wasn’t.

“There’s a list with corresponding photos of the twenty-one year olds back here,” Jo admitted. “The cameras take a snapshot and facial recognition checks if you’re over twenty-one. Here at SciTech. I envy the bartenders over at Operations academy. No one there’s under twenty-one. The minimum requirement for Operations is like a year in military service and a Associate's degree, though I’ve heard a few exceptions have been made.”

Skye laughed. “At least they have one thing going for them.”

“And only that one thing,” Jo agreed.

An older cadet who was nursing his third whiskey sitting a little ways away from Skye glanced over at her while Jo was serving other people. Skye felt her skin crawl and took a deep breath. He reminded her of  _ him _ . Skye shuddered. The cadet shifted over two seats so he was sitting two seats over from her. 

“So what’s a girl like you doing -” he started.

“I’m fifteen, asshole. Walk  _ away _ ,” Skye growled, sipping her beer.

“Just trying to make conversation,” the cadet groused, undeterred. “You could at least tell me your name.”

“I said no,” Skye snarled in a low tone, looking for Jo. She frowned at him.

“You’re pretty,” the cadet slurred. “But you should smile more.”

Skye got up and started looking for Fitz. The cadet got up and was quite suddenly in her face. Skye could feel the panic start to set in. “Stay away from me,” Skye shouted louder, but her voice started to shake in fear.

“See, I think you came in here looking for something more than just a drink,” the cadet jeered, reaching a hand for her breast.

Skye saw red and before she knew what was happening she grabbed his wrist and  _ twisted _ . The gut-wrenching scream from the cadet stopped every conversation taking place in the Boiler Room. 

Skye stared at the cadet, still holding his hand. But instead of the cadet, all she saw was  _ him _ . It was  _ his  _ hands on her. His breath. His face in front of hers. She shook in fear as she remembered the last time someone had touched her the way the cadet just had. She heard a whimper coming from somewhere when suddenly Jo appeared beside her and was ushering her into a back room somewhere. 

“Skye, I need you to breathe,” she heard someone saying. The instruction was familiar, so Skye did what she was told and took a deep breath. 

“I need to get him off me,” Skye stammered rubbing her arms trying to forget the feeling of his hands. “Please get him off me.”

“Skye, it’s okay,” Jo consoled. “He’s gone. He’s not here anymore.”

Skye’s hands trembled as she reached into her pocket for her anxiety medication and took one. She did her breathing exercises that she was now thankful Andrew drilled into her until her medication kicked in.

“You okay?” Jo asked.

“I’m fine,” Skye cried in a small voice.

Jo’s expression was skeptical. “I’ve called Weaver,” was all she explained. “She’ll be here in a few minutes. Medical’s already here and they’re taking Cadet Jackson for x-rays, but they’re positive you broke his wrist.” Skye tensed. “You’re not in trouble. You felt threatened and you did what you felt needed to be done.” Skye sat silently, breathing, while Jo sat with her. “You know, I don’t know you, and you have no reason to trust me, but I get it.” Skye looked at Jo and saw tense eyes. Skye knew Jo didn’t want to talk about whatever had happened right now any more than Skye did. “Look, if you ever need someone to talk to…”

A knock came at the door, halting the conversation. Jo gave Skye a look and she nodded, giving permission for Jo to open the door. Skye was calm enough to smile when she saw Fitz outside.

“Skye, are you okay?” Fitz asked, looking extremely apologetic. “I’m so sorry. I should have stuck near… Connors had… a thing about the robotics class... I can’t believe… I mean, I knew Jackson was a cad, but I never thought that...” 

Skye took a breath. “Fitz, I’m fine,” she sniffled with a small smile. “I told him no and when he tried to put his hands on me I forcibly removed said hands. It’s happened to me on occasion.”

Fitz looked absolutely appalled by this news. “It happens to a lot of women,” Jo broke in. “Doesn’t make it right, but it’s not an uncommon story.”

Fitz started cursing, his brogue becoming so thick in his anger that Skye couldn’t understand him. She let him rant until he shocked her by coming over and engulfing her in a hug. “I willna’ leave ye alone. I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t do it,” Skye defended with a shrug of indifference. “And I’ll probably come back. Maybe not tomorrow, but at some point…”

“That’s if’n they don’t shut this place down…we’re not supposed to...” Fitz admitted.

“It’s a little-known secret that the instructors here know about the Boiler Room,” Jo informed them. “Despite rumors, the Boiler Room’s been around for long enough that they all used it too in their day. Or at least a version of it. It’s not like we’d be able to sneak this much alcohol down here without someone knowing. Especially not with SHIELD security not knowing.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Fitz hedged. “Why is it a secret then?”

Jo shrugged. “Tradition, mostly. But get a bunch of hormonal college-aged kids in a room together and something’s bound to happen sooner or later.”

“What will happen?” Skye asked.

“Jackson will face a peer-based review board. As an international spy agency we have our own internal judicial court system for almost everything. Chances are he’ll be banned from any projects that are remotely interesting for about a year after graduation, pay a fine, and be forced to attend a sexual harassment seminar.”

Fitz winced. “Isn’t that the three hour class that goes for eight weeks?” he asked.

Jo nodded. “We’re a lot harsher than most corporate entities since we rely on women so much to fulfill SHIELD’s purpose as a spy organization. As much as men do typically fall on the brute strength end of things, no one can gather information quite like the women of SHIELD. There’s a rumor that Natasha Romanov actually teaches a class on it to the female Ops cadets on how to manipulate a mark into revealing secrets. In addition to whatever the review board passes down, the other bartenders and I will be banning him from the Boiler Room for life.”

“Life? Really?” Fitz asked, a little surprised.

Jo nodded. “The Boiler Room’s a safe space for everyone to unwind. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any violent or destructive behavior. There’s a female professor here who was actually banned in the 60s for breaking three lamps and a pool table down here while under the influence of LSD. That ban’s still in effect.”

“Which professor?” Fitz asked curiously. Skye was more focused on the fact that for the first time in her life, she wasn’t being victim shamed. Maybe SHIELD wasn’t such a bad place if this was how it always was. It was far better than her having to tell her story over and over and having some lawyer try and pull her story apart in front of an audience.

Another knock came at the door and Skye didn’t tense this time. Jo still looked at Skye before she opened the door, blocking the opening with her body. 

“Agent Mench?” came Weaver’s voice, “I received a report of an incident here? Someone reported another cadet attacked Cadet Jackson here tonight.”

“It was provoked,” Jo insisted. “But it wasn’t another cadet.”

“Cadet Mench?” Dr. Weaver asked. “Please clarify.”

“It’s okay, Jo,” Skye piped up.

Jo moved aside and Dr. Weaver moved around her at the same time, shocked. “Skye?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” she breathed, smiling a little. “Fitz brought me here. Wanted to introduce me to some people. Cadet Jackson was a little drunk and… he came on to me. I said no, and then… Jo intervened.”

“But not before you broke his wrist,” Dr, Weaver confirmed, her voice calm and without even a hint of accusation. 

Skye clasped her hands together and rubbed the base of one thumb with the other thumb. “A friend of mine… after the second time, he made me learn how to defend myself. I didn’t mean to. It just kinda… happened.”

“Okay, I think we should go up to my office and I’ll call your guardians,” Weaver concluded.

“Yeah,” Skye agreed getting up. “Fitz, I’ll see you on Monday. Jo, I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jo reassured. “Dr. Weaver, I’ll meet with you tomorrow to give you my official statement.”

“Thank you, Cadet,” Weaver concurred formally. Skye held her head high for the first few steps out into the bar area, but thankfully someone had emptied it and she allowed herself to duck her head.

“You sure you’re okay?” Weaver questioned.

“Yeah,” Skye considered quietly. “I’m… I’m used to it.” Weaver looked at her sharply. “Coping,” she continued. “Not the other thing.”

“You still shouldn’t be,” Weaver hummed. “You shouldn’t have to carry it all. I don’t understand quite how you can.”

“My favorite nun at the orphanage used to tell me this story. A traveler of great strength came to a town. The townspeople were  _ amazed _ by his strength for he could lift tree trunks, and move boulders. Finally, he showed them his bag. It did not hold food, for he ate what he hunted and gathered. It did not hold clothing, for he owned only the clothes on his back. Instead it held pebbles. Hundreds of them. The townspeople were baffled and asked him why he carried pebbles in his bag. But he could not answer them. They asked him how, and he could not answer that either. And so his time in the town ended. Just before he left the town’s limits, he bent down and picked up a pebble and put it in his bag.”

“So you can carry it because it didn’t happen all at once?” Weaver asked.

“We’re all the traveller, Dr. Weaver,” Skye advised sagely. “None of it happens all at once. And no two bags look alike.”

“You know, you’re wiser than ninety percent of my cadets,” Weaver noted with a deep sigh. “And you’re half the age of some of them.”

They made it to Weaver’s office and Weaver called Skye’s parents, telling them to come in but not telling them why. Skye fidgeted in her seat, waiting nervously for them to arrive. “Relax, Skye,” Weaver comforted soothingly. “I’ll have to hear what the other reports say and review security footage, but both you and Agent Mench have convinced me that this wasn’t your fault.”

Skye sighed and shrugged. “It never is, but it always is,” Skye stated simple. She didn’t say anything else, going stone-faced. Weaver frowned in concern, but didn’t say anything else until Skye’s guardians arrived.

Suddenly the door opened and Melinda walked in, making a beeline for Skye. She looked Skye up and down, checking for injuries. “Are you okay?” she asked in a rush. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, Mel,” Skye sniffed softly, blushing as the tears started again.

“What happened?” Andrew asked, clearly the calmer of the two.

“There as an incident at the bar here on campus,” Weaver divulged. Skye realized that Weaver hadn’t told them.

The tears that had been threatening since Skye’s panic attack finally broke free. “I didn’t mean to,” Skye sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

Melinda knelt in front of Skye and very gently stroked her hair as she cried. 

“One of the older cadets ingested too much alcohol at the bar on campus,” Weaver explained. “He became… inappropriate with Skye. She declined his advances and he ignored her, so she broke his wrist.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Skye continued, hiccuping and sobbing. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Good girl,” Melinda praised Skye, and wiping away her tears as they spilled down her cheeks. Melinda held Skye until the younger of the pair quieted to crying silently. Melinda turned to Weaver. “She isn’t in trouble, is she?” Skye sniffed, half-shocked and half-still-upset.

“No,” Weaver declared. “Witnesses say that Skye firmly verbally refused his advances and she only used physical action when the Cadet ignored her twice. She may have overcompensated her twist, but that’s not unheard of for a cadet or someone untrained.”

“Good,” Melinda concurred, taking Skye’s hand. “Let’s go home.”

Skye, starting to feel the effects of the stress and strain of that night, nodded. She let Melinda put an arm around her and support her to the car. Skye kept pretty quiet on the ride home. It wasn’t until she was in the car that she realized that the house she was going to was starting to feel like home. 

Melinda and Andrew had insisted on getting her a new computer even though the one she had worked fine. She also had a whole bunch of clothes in her closet that Melinda had insisted on buying her since Skye had been found in little more than rags. Sometimes it felt like it was a life that Skye hadn’t earned.

Melinda had chewed her out a bit when she saw the state of the few clothes that Skye had before ceremoniously dumping them out. The only thing that Skye had kept was the frayed Columbia hoodie that Matt had given her before she left New York. She was tempted to email Matt and let him know that she was safe, but she wasn’t entirely sure of the complete truth of that statement just yet. She still felt like the other shoe was going to drop. Melinda and Andrew were starting to feel like family and the house was starting to feel like home and usually when either one of those things happened, something bad would happen and Skye would be back at square one.

Skye went up to her room when she got home, despite Melinda and Andrew clearly wanting to talk. She stared at the computer for a long time. She jumped when someone knocked on her door, then turned over so she was facing away from it. She went still when she heard the door open. Someone stood in the doorway for a few moments then closed the door. Alone again, Skye sat up. Thankful to be left alone. She resumed staring at the computer. They’d abandon her eventually. Maybe it would be best if Skye headed it off at the pass. 

She looked at the clock, realizing that she hadn’t heard anyone making any noise in a while. It was three in the morning. No wonder. Melinda and Andrew had probably gone to bed. She quickly got on her computer and started hacking. She knew from experience if she caused too much trouble, like hacking the Pentagon, she’d be sent back. She had been fairly young when she had been sent back from the Brodys’. After that, she discovered that it was easier for her to swallow getting sent back if it was for something she knew she deserved, so she picked fights with the other kids, ran away, and hacked any time she could get her hands on a computer. 

Once she was into the Pentagon’s secure server. She just sat online long enough for them to track her, not even interested in checking on the information she could access. Logging off, she went and sat on her bed, waiting for her world to implode once again, silently trying to convince herself that a self-imposed implosion was better than the one that would inevitably come. 

It didn’t take long before the doorbell rang. She heard Melinda’s quiet footsteps and Andrew’s heavier ones going downstairs. She heard the door open and voices talking quietly. Then Melinda and Andrew came back upstairs with someone else and they knocked on her door. Skye set her face and her shoulders as Andrew peeked in.

“Skye?” Andrew asked kindly.

“Yeah?” Skye quipped, her fear and pain masked by layers of sass and anger.

“Director Fury’s here. He received a call that someone here hacked the Pentagon?” Andrew asked.

“So what if I did?” Skye challenged. The door opened further and Andrew stepped through, his face softened from curiosity to something close to pity that Skye didn’t know the name of. Melinda and Fury came in after him.

“Skye, we just want to know why,” Melinda assured her softly.

Skye piled on as much rage as she could to her mask and shrugged. “Guess I just felt like it,” she dismissed, trying her best to seem like she didn’t care.

“You were able to get in and out of SHIELD without being detected, but you hacked into the Pentagon and just stayed there without checking anything because you felt like it?” Fury asked, unconvinced.

“Yup,” Skye bragged. She wasn’t hurting. She  _ wasn’t _ . Her insides weren’t feeling like the end of the world and like all of her hopes and dreams were dying. Because she was  _ stronger _ than that. She was better than that. She didn't need them. She didn't need anyone.  


Fury sighed heavily and shook his head. “I’ll talk to the General. Make sure he understands it was just an over-enthusiastic trainee,” he reassured Melinda and Andrew. “I trust that you two can handle the situation from this end.”

Skye tensed. ‘Handling the situation’ usually meant bad things for her. Once Andrew left to show Fury out, Skye eyed her old rucksack in the corner that held her old laptop. Melinda was near the door. She tried to calculate if she could make the window, but knew it was futile.

She stood up and grabbed the rucksack, shouldering it. “So I guess I’m going back?” she assumed.

Melinda raised an eyebrow. “That’s why you did this? You want to go back?”

“I might as well,” Skye challenged defiantly, shrugging. “Even if you give me another chance now, eventually you’ll want to send me back.”

“You know our offer to adopt you still stands,” Melinda coaxed.

“You say that now,” Skye replied, setting her jaw with a shrug. “But no one ever really means it, in the end.”

Melinda blinked at Skye for a long moment before her expression softened. “Is that what you really think?” she asked, taking a half-step closer. “You think that if you do something wrong, we’re going to change our minds?”

Skye shrugged. “Story of my life. I deal.”

“That’s the point, though,” Melinda responded, moving closer and tugging the bag off Skye’s shoulder. “That you don’t have to deal on your own anymore. We’re not sending you away. Whoever you hack, whatever happens, we’ll still be here.”

“The Brodys said that once,” Skye grumbled. “I bet you can guess what happened with  _ that _ situation.”

“We’re not them,” Melinda shot back, a touch of fire in her voice. “We’re not going to give you up. And I really want to prove that to you.” From her tone, Skye almost believed that Melinda would go toe-to-toe against anyone who tried to hurt Skye, including Skye herself. 

Skye shook her head vigorously, trying to pull herself out of Melinda’s grip. Melinda, however, refused to let go. “I-I can’t…” she stuttered, tearing up. Shaking her head vigorously. Her defiance crumbling in the face of Melinda’s understanding and care and the fact she was  _ there _ . “I promised… I promised myself I wouldn’t. I’m too broken. If… if someone breaks me again… you can’t fix me.” Her greatest fears were bleeding through. That she couldn’t be put back together. That she’d bring down good people if they stuck around too long.

Melinda closed the distance between them. “I know it feels that way, Skye,” she murmured softly. “I know it feels like it would be easier to keep everyone at arm’s length, because you’ve lost so many people who said that they’d help you. But nothing you ever tell me will push me away. Nothing will prevent me from convincing you that even though you’re in a world of pain, even though it feels like you are, you’re not broken. You’re perfect, just the way you are.”

Skye was crying again now, but she let Melinda hold her. Secretly, she wanted Melinda to hold her forever. She couldn’t remember the last time someone held her before Melinda. She wanted this feeling to last forever. Like she had been falling her entire life, and someone had finally managed to reach out and grab her. Even at the good foster homes, her foster parents had never initiated hugs, and she had been to enough bad homes that by the time she was ten, she knew better than to try to initiate anything. “Okay,” Skye whispered softly.

Melinda seemed to know what Skye meant and held her closer. “We’ll file the paperwork on Monday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers!
> 
> A drunk cadet reaches for Skye's breast over her shirt. She breaks his hand and he's further severely disciplined for his actions.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye meets a grandparent,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who got a chapter update notification, I apologize. Chapter 7 got labeled as Chapter 6 (there were two Chapter 6s) and the first Chapter 6 wasn't added to the Document Outline and the first Chapter 6 was deleted. I was updating from my tablet, the app doesn't have document history...
> 
> Translation: Blah blah blah, it's fixed now. I'm sorry.
> 
> Now, I'm sorry, I don't really speak Mandarin, but I tried my very best to research and not rely on Google Translate. If I do something wrong, please let me know.

Eventually, reluctantly, Melinda let Skye go. Andrew had come back by then and sat down on the end of Skye’s bed. Even though she broke off the hug, Melinda continued to stroke her hair, looking like she was reluctant to let Skye go. “Despite all of this, Skye,” Melinda said carefully. “You shouldn’t have hacked the Pentagon. We know you were doing it to try and make us send you back but there are still consequences for your actions that have to be dealt with.”

Andrew nodded. “So we’re going to take away your computers for a week,” he said gently.

“You… just my computer?” Skye asked carefully. She tried to remind herself that Melinda and Andrew were good people and wouldn’t hurt her, but mind games had been played with her before, and it had only been a month.

Melinda nodded. “Just your computer,” she reassured her. “You didn’t actually access any information or steal anything, but it was wrong what you did.”

“I know,” Skye said softly, curling into herself.

Melinda smiled softly at Skye. “That’s really it, Skye,” she said gently. “I know you’re used to… something else. Testing us on stuff like this is normal. Expected, even. If we’re going to be your parents -” Skye tensed. Melinda stopped. “Oh Skye, what I meant was…”

“I… know what you meant,” Skye said softly. “I just didn’t think…”

“You don’t have to call us anything other than Mel and Andrew,” Andrew said softly. “Though if you could think about calling my parents Nana and PopPop when you meet them, I’d appreciate it. I’ll warn you though, they’re a little pushy. They like spoiling grandkids.”

Skye blinked. “I… uh… why would they want to meet me?”

Andrew and Melinda exchanged a confused glance. “Well, if we’re going to start the adoption process, you’ll be their grandchild,” Andrew said slowly.

“But… I’m not… biologically yours?” Skye asked, bewildered. “I mean, I’m nothing to them…”

Suddenly Melinda was hugging her again. Skye couldn’t help herself and melted into Melinda’s embrace. “DNA doesn’t matter,” Melinda said softly. “You’re ours. They won’t care about that either. Dealing with my mother though…”

“Your mother’s fine, Mel,” Andrew said.

“You only say that because she likes you, Drew,” Melinda said, though she was smiling.

“Is… I mean…” Skye stammered.

“She’ll love you,” Melinda said, reassuringly. “She’s just…”

“Mel’s parents are traditional, first-generation Chinese immigrants,” Andrew explained. “They expected certain things from her growing up. As Mel grew older, they expected different things.”

“What are they like?” Skye asked shyly.

“My father will want to spoil you,” Melinda said. “Probably want to tell you all the family stories and traditions. He’ll teach you how to cook if you want to and offer to teach you Mandarin. My mother will insist on teaching you how to fight and certain survival skills that are more commonplace to the CIA than to SHIELD.”

“What if we ease you into this. William, Melinda’s father, is a little more low-key. What if he comes to visit for a little while?” Andrew suggested. “My parents want to come out for Fourth of July weekend…” Melinda looked at him sharply. “But they’ve promised me that it’d be just them.” Skye raised an eyebrow. 

“Andrew comes from a really big family,” Melinda explained. “Six brothers and sisters, a number of aunts and uncles, tons of cousins. The annual Garner family reunion is over 300 people. They’re loving people. They’re just… loud.”

Skye looked out the window and saw the sun rising. The idea of being part of a small family, just Melinda, her, and Andrew had been a big step for her. Even a family so small seemed overwhelming. But this… she didn’t know if she could handle this. 

As usual, Andrew seemed to know what she was thinking. “Most of them live up and down the West Coast, so we hardly ever see them with how busy SHIELD keeps us,” he explained. “My parents know about you to the extent that when they visit, they’ll come alone.”

“I’ll call my father this morning,” Melinda said. “It might take some time to inform my mother. She checks in every few months, but a lot of time we pass each other between missions. Right now, though, it’s time for Tai Chi.”

\--------------

“I heard last night was a little eventful,” Natasha said when Skye arrived for training in the Ops gym. Bobbi was giving Skye a fairly impressed look. 

Skye blushed. “I didn’t… I shouldn’t have reacted like that,” she admitted.

“You have every right to defend yourself against someone who puts their hands on you, Skye,” Bobbi said.

Skye shook her head. “It’s not that,” she said. “It’s… I did it because I was in the middle of a flashback from the last time…” she trailed off. 

“You were remembering…” Natasha said softly. 

Skye nodded. Due to her talk with Melinda and Andrew that morning, she was finally convinced that she had somehow stumbled into some place that would last. That they weren’t going to leave her. “I don’t remember much,” she admitted shakily. “Just… hands. I remember hands. I woke up a few days later in the hospital. That’s how I fractured my skull two years ago.” She closed her eyes and did the breathing techniques that Andrew had taught her. Somehow it wasn’t as hard to talk to Natasha and Bobbi about this, but it was still hard to talk about.

“Well, we’re not the experts on how to deal with the flashbacks, but we’re always here to listen,” Bobbi said warmly.

“That and teach you how to defend yourself if you need to,” Natasha said. “Your ribs aren’t totally healed, Pauchok, but I think we can start teaching you how to take opponents down as long as we teach you technique rather than full combat.”

“We should test your range of motion,” Bobbi said. “Melinda has you running every night?”

“Yeah,” Skye said. “We’re up to three miles every night. My PE teachers would be shocked. I never participated when I was in High School.”

“PE class sucks no matter who you are,” Bobbi agreed. “Wearing oversized, unisex tee shirts and gym shorts to sweat for an hour in the middle of the school day during the height of hormonal development isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine for anyone.”

“Since you’re running and you can’t start on sparring so we’re going to teach you how escape from various bindings,” Natasha said.

“Well, I admit that I’ve never been tied up before,” Skye said. “And I’ve always wanted to learn how to escape handcuffs.”

Natasha produced handcuffs with a smile. “Watch closely, Pauchok. This is important.”

\--------------

Skye was a little intimidated when Melinda announced at dinner that night that her father was coming to visit on Sunday night. 

“Really? So soon?” Skye asked, shocked. “Why?”

“He’s excited,” Melinda said. “Honestly, I think he had lost hope that he was going to get a grandchild. Grandchildren are cherished in Chinese culture.”

“Okay,” Skye said softly. “Can you… I mean, I  _ think _ I’m at least partially Chinese. And if I was found in China...”

“And you want to know a little bit about your probable ethnic history?” Melinda asked curiously. “I can teach you some, but my father can certainly teach you more.”

“Should I… I mean… can I help you set anything up?” Skye asked uncertainly.

“The guest bedroom sheets are clean as are the towels in the guest room,” Melinda said. “But you can come to the airport with us to pick him up.”

“I’m assuming he’ll want to go to the market on Monday,” Andrew said. “Maybe after dinner?”

“That’d be a good guess,” Melinda said. “He’s wanted to go pretty much every other time he’s been here. It’s a good thing the freezer’s almost empty.”

“Why?” Skye asked curiously.

“William tends to cook for days for us and fills up our fridge with about six months worth of food,” Andrew said. “It was nice for me with Melinda gone so often. I never had to cook.”

Skye smiled. The May-Garner household did tend to eat a lot of traditional Chinese foods. It was different from any other foster home she’d been in. Andrew went to the farmer’s market on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and they ate a large amount of fresh vegetables for every meal - even breakfast. She was fairly sure if she brought up McDonald’s to Melinda, she would get another lecture on nutrition. Her first week out of medical, she had been sat down down and it was explained to her that a number of blood panels had been run. It was nice to know that they were at least honest with her that they’d run a drug test on her, and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit proud when she saw the relief in Melinda’s and Andrew’s eyes when they told her she was drug-free.

What wasn’t clean was her nutrition levels. It turned out that living on the street wasn’t really all that healthy - Skye was deficient in everything, particularly her vitamins, so they gave her extra large helpings. In just over a month of living with Melinda and Andrew, Skye had eaten more fresh vegetables than she ever had in her life. 

“That reminds me, you have your medical follow up tomorrow, instead of us going golfing,” Melinda said. Skye made a face. Melinda and Andrew both smiled. “They want to make sure your ribs have healed correctly and you’re gaining weight like you should.”

“Still?” Skye groaned.

“You’re 5’4” and you’re barely a hundred pounds on a good day,” Melinda pointed out. “This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Skye nodded and went back to eating her stir fry. Melinda and Andrew didn’t like talking about the fact that Skye was living on the street when they found her. Skye didn’t like to think about it much either, nor did she like thinking about the circumstances that forced her to live on the street in the first place. 

Melinda and Andrew weren’t the only ones obsessed with getting as many healthy calories into Skye as possible though. Clint had disappeared for a few days the day after Melinda and Andrew had been first awarded custody and come back with a gigantic box filled with frozen calorie-packed soups and stews. Where he’d gotten them, he wouldn’t say, but he assured them that everything was made farm-fresh, even the chicken. Natasha had come by a few evenings and taught Skye how to make Borscht and various other recipes from her childhood. The first night that she had finally asked Natasha why she called her ‘Pauchok,’ which turned out to be Russian for ‘little spider.’ 

Even Coulson had come by, with dozens of muffins of a huge variety. He had snuck in a few dark chocolate-zucchini muffins that had been amazing. He had offered to teach her how to make them and there were a few scheduled lessons.

A few times, Bobbi and Hunter had taken Skye out to dinner. Hunter wanted in on Clint’s plan to start Skye on weapons training, which Skye was extremely nervous about. Skye was amazed at how quickly the others around her took to treating her like a little sister - a real little sister, not like her foster siblings had treated her. But Skye was still extremely hesitant to spend time with Fitz or Simmons, especially after what happened in the Boiler Room. 

“What… what do I call him?” Skye asked curiously, turning her thoughts back to their upcoming visitor.

“I call him William, and Mel calls him ‘Dad,’ and you can call him whatever you want,” Andrew said.

“Though, if you’re comfortable with it, you can call him wàigōng.” 

“Grandfather?” Skye guessed. Melinda nodded her confirmation. “I’ll… think about it,” Skye said softly.

\--------------

“Your blood work looks a lot better, Skye,” the doctor said. “Your weight is getting closer to average and your guardians tell me that you’re eating mostly healthy things?”

Skye ducked her head, blushing heavily. “Yeah,” she said. She still wasn’t used to people actually caring.

“Your ribs look good, but please still be careful of them for the next few weeks. We don’t want to see you back here for quite a while,” the doctor said. 

“I understand,” Skye said. 

The doctor handed over a tube unceremoniously. “This is SHIELD-developed scar cream,” she said. “It’s your choice, but if you want to use it, it should reduce whatever scars you have.”

“Thanks,” Skye said softly, taking the cream. Some of her scars were in hard to reach places and she blushed at the thought of asking for help. 

“Just be careful for the next year or so. You’re going to be more susceptible to illness while your immune system recovers. Which includes dressing appropriately for the weather and eating the right foods, hence the dietary guidelines, which I know your guardians will help you adhere to.”

“I get it,” Skye said softly. “I’ll eat right and exercise and everything, I promise.”

\--------------

Skye sat nervously in the uncomfortable airport chair. She didn’t know how she should act in these situations, so she had researched Chinese greetings. Her stomach was in knots, worried that she’d get something wrong. Even though she knew that Melinda and Andrew were adopting her to prove to her that they loved her, as much as that petrified her. She desperately wanted to prove to them that she was worth loving. She wasn’t at the point where she could accept any titles, but she was just barely able to accept the idea that someone could love her and not want anything out of it.

Suddenly, an older Asian man who looked far more spry than Skye was expecting appeared out of the throng of people coming through security and picked up his pace. The first thing he did was embrace Melinda tightly. “Mellie!” he exclaimed. 

“How was your flight, Dad?” Melinda asked, hugging back.

“Oh fine, fine,” Melinda’s father said. He extended his hand to Andrew. “Andrew, good to see you.”

“Great to see you, William,” Andrew said with a huge grin.

Suddenly Skye made a leap and bowed deeply, stumbling over the Mandarin she’d memorized and most likely botched. But she was careful to call him ‘wàigōng’. William May laughed and very gently took Skye by the shoulders and straightened her up. “You must be Skye,” he said. “Sūnnǚ.” 

Skye blushed heavily at the word, knowing its English translation of ‘granddaughter.’ “I… I really don’t really know what to say,” Skye admitted.

“Well, let’s go home and you can tell me about yourself over dinner,” William said, subtly slipping his arm into Skye’s.

Skye took a deep breath. “Only if you tell me about you,” she said.

“Of course,” William said. “Family history is important.” 

William sat next to Skye in the back of the SUV and started coaxing answers out of Skye, concentrating on the good parts of Skye’s past.

“So you figured out that you were Chinese on your own?” 

Skye nodded. “We had a science class on genetics when I was about eight. Most orphans are pretty obsessed with where they came from, since it’s usually a mystery. The characteristics matched. When SHIELD did my first blood panel, they tracked my region of origin. It tracks that my regional origins are half-Chinese and half-western European. The SHIELD documentation that they were able to uncover… we  _ think _ I’m first-generation.”

“Did you do research? Did you learn any Mandarin?”

“I know I was born in the year of the Snake,” Skye offered. “And a few swear words, but no, not much else.” 

“Do you want to?” William asked.

Skye blushed. “I don’t want to be any bother.”

“It wouldn’t be a bother to teach you such things,” William said easily. “It was certainly lost on Melinda when I attempted to teach her.”

“I learned what I needed to,” Melinda said from behind the wheel. “The Mandarin is useful.” William and Melinda then started exchanged words in Mandarin for a few moments. William grinned.

“My daughter is fluent in Mandarin, but always cared little about the culture end of things,” William said.

“I was found in Hunan Province,” Skye said softly. “Can you tell me much about it?”

“I do not know much,” William admitted. “But I have friends whose families were from Hunan that I can email.”

“You… don’t have to,” Skye said slowly. “I mean, I don’t want to be a bother.”

William took Skye’s hand. “You are my Sūnnǚ,” he said softly and carefully. “You will never be a bother. You are the great blessing that I was not expecting. What better way I can use my time, now that I am retired, than to spend it on my granddaughter?”

Skye was tempted to argue, but she had been taught as a child she must never contradict the elderly. It was one of the few things that had stuck without a nun taking a ruler to her knuckles. From what little she knew of Chinese culture, she wondered how much of was nature and how much was nurture. She wondered if she could consult Simmons, who was specializing in biochem, to see if there was any research on such a thing.

William took Skye’s silence as agreement and he continued on, talking about his Mah Jong league in Phoenix, and Chinese Medicine, and all sorts of trivia about the country that Skye was apparently from, but had no memory of. The drive home sped by as William talked at length about what China was like and the Chinese culture that survived in Washington D.C. specifically. It made Skye want to visit Chinatown at the very least. Maybe someday she’d even get to go ‘home,’ even just for a visit. She couldn’t help but wonder. Had those villagers given their lives for her? Was she the reason why they were dead?

After William was settled into his room, he came out and immediately set to work in the kitchen. “Skye, has Mellie taught you how to make stir fry?” he asked. Skye shook her head wordlessly. “Come on then, if you’d like to learn.”

Faster than she could blink, William had her chopping watercress. “So did you always live in Arizona?” Skye asked softly.

Before she could retract her statement, William answered. “I lived for a long time in right here in D.C. When I was first married to Mellie’s mother, we lived in Chinatown, then we moved out to Arlington. I moved to Arizona when I retired.” Melinda had told her a little bit about her mother working for the CIA. William, Skye knew William had been a translator. “You’re from New York, correct?”

“Yeah,” Skye said softly.

“I grew up in Washington,” Melinda said from where she was prepping the snow peas. “Mom wanted me to go into the CIA like her.”

“But instead you went to SHIELD,” William said with a good-natured shake of his head. “As hard-headed as your mother.”

“Fury made me a very compelling offer,” Melinda said with a smile. “And I admit that there was a bit of teenage rebellion that compelled me to join up, but the CIA is only fighting to make a better place from an American perspective. SHIELD fights it from an International perspective. We don’t serve from one particular country or regime.”

“So what about you, Skye? Will you be working for SHIELD?” William asked, his voice full of curiosity and clearly not out of politeness.

“Mel and Andrew want me to graduate college first,” Skye said bluntly. 

“It’s wise to have a backup option,”  Andrew murmured.

“Do you know where you want to apply?” William asked.

“American, George Washington, and Georgetown,” Skye said. “I… Mel and Andrew want me to stay close for now.”

“I’m not comfortable sending a sixteen year old  _ away _ to college,” Melinda said with a shrug. “And even if I were, we like having you home.”

Skye knew that a comment about how she could take care of herself would only have Melinda countering with a reminder that Skye didn’t have to. Her family repeatedly taught her that they were there to take care of her, and she wasn’t burdening them by asking for things. Still, she had a hard time trusting them. There remained an instinct that drove her to hide individual packets of food, first aid materials, and clothes in a bag that she hid in her closet just in case the other shoe dropped. 

“Do you know what you want to study?” William asked politely.

“Computer science,” Skye answered automatically. “I’m… pretty good with computers.”

William moved onto other topics over dinner and eventually Skye grew tired, so Melinda sent Skye up to bed but the adults stayed up, chatting.

After the upstairs was quiet, William changed the subject from the goings on in William’s neighborhood and eventually the subject turned to the goings on in Washington. “I must say, Mellie, I never expected to get a call from you telling me you were adopting a girl, much less a teenager with a clearly troubled past. What exactly happened that made you make a decision so abruptly?”

“She needed help, Dad,” Melinda said quietly. “God, you should have seen her when we first found her. Underweight, injured, and living on the streets, and so terrified of everything… She tensed up any time anyone was within arm’s reach of her… I  _ had _ to help her. You don’t know how much it kills me that most of the time she still barely lets us touch her.”

“Wouldn’t she be better off at a facility or maybe a home with…” William started

“We’re not sending her away,” Andrew said, just as protectively as Melinda looked.

William seemed to want to say something, then thought better of it. “I wouldn’t presume to be judging you without knowing the full scope of the situation, I just know you both are very busy at SHIELD and want to make sure that you’ve thought this through. What if Skye gets sick or injured? Who would stay home with her? Mellie, you have to go on missions and Andrew you have patients. You’ve asked Skye to have a backup plan, but do you have the same for her?”

Melinda and Andrew looked at each other. “Dad, what are you saying?” Melinda asked slowly.

“I’m saying, Mellie, that maybe I should move back to the area so you have assistance with Skye. It’s my obligation as her grandfather.”

“We can… we’re able to take care of her, Dad,” Melinda said softly.

“It takes a village to raise a child, Melinda,” William said seriously. “It is not enough for you two to teach her that she is loved. If she has been hurt by many, she must be taught love and kindness by many. I know that you and Andrew have a handle on things, but I still have old friends in the area. I could move to Bethesda or some place similar and assist you. If both of you are called for assistance for SHIELD, I’d be available.”

“You shouldn’t have to pick up your entire life for us, Dad. We’ll be okay,” Melinda said.

“Nonsense. Honestly, who would you trust with Skye if there’s some sort of catastrophe? Who do you know that doesn’t work for SHIELD? She isn’t an Agent, Melinda. You can’t bring her into SHIELD during a crisis and - into a dangerous situation. She’s too young to make the choice for herself. Don’t you think she should have influences that aren’t SHIELD?”

“He raises a good point, Mel,” Andrew said.

“There are classified reasons why Skye needs to stay with SHIELD for the next few years,” Melinda said softly. “Unfortunately, Skye can’t be awarded the same freedoms that most teenagers her age have.”

“I hardly think that staying with her grandfather, who is related to both a SHIELD agent and a CIA Operative, is allowing her too much freedom,” William said with a slight frown. “Particularly if I’m only an hour or two away from where she lives normally. It’s not like you’re sending her to Arizona to visit me, Mellie.”

“No,” Melinda said, nodding solemnly. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…”

“You’re her mother,” William said, nodding. 

Melinda’s eyes went wide. “What? No!” she objected.

“Yes you are,” William said, pride shining in his eyes. “No matter who says anything, no matter how much you worry about Skye, you’re making the right decision. You act like a mother should. Protective.”

Melinda couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride from her father’s praise. “I’m not her mother. I hope to be… some day. But I barely know her.”

“You know enough,” William said wisely. “You have the same look in your eyes that your mother did when we brought you home.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye teaches Simmons that justice isn't black and white, bonds with William, and finds true friendship in Clint and Natasha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to Lady Winterlight, my beta, who's awesome. 
> 
>  
> 
> Trigger warning note: flashbacks and explanations of traumatic events

“I hear you had an eventful weekend,” Wells began gently during their Monday session as Skye drew.

Skye stopped drawing and looked up. “Yeah,” she offered quickly. She waited for Dr. Wells to say something else, but she didn’t. “I didn’t mean to… hurt him,” she added softly.

“I know you didn’t,” Dr. Wells reassured her. “No one thinks otherwise.”

“His hands… I just needed to keep his hands off me,” she explained softly, willing herself both to speak and not to cry at the same time. She had thought a lot about it over the weekend and had decided she would talk if Dr. Wells asked. Still, she squirmed a little at the thought of hands on me

“I think that’s understandable,” Dr. Wells murmured kindly.

“It’s all I remember,” Skye admitted softly. “I… I don’t know if you knew, but my foster brother assaulted my foster sister and I. Apparently it got really violent. All I know is I woke up in the hospital the day after it happened with about a week missing from my memory cuz he fractured my skull… But... I remember his hands.” Dr. Wells seemed to know not to speak while she took a breath and then another to collect herself. “It took me something like three foster homes before I’d let anyone touch me, and I kept everyone up pretty much every night from the nightmares,” she cried. “They uh… kept sending me back. Guess they thought I was too much work… or maybe I’m just too… broken.” She was still having nightmares a couple of times a week and every time either Melinda or Andrew got up and distracted her until she fell back asleep. It was the first time anyone ever had done that. 

“You’re not, you know,” Dr. Wells emphasized, having found her way to sitting beside her, but not touching her. “No one is too broken to be fixed, as long as they want to be fixed. It’ll take work and time, but you’ll get there.”

“I guess,” Skye demurred, wordlessly objecting to the declaration and then going back to drawing.

“Can I ask one more question?” Dr. Wells asked. Skye nodded, not looking up. “What happened to your foster brother?”

Skye paused once more, having to think. “He’s, uh, in Sing Sing. Life without parole,” she answered, not allowing her thoughts to land on why.

Dr. Wells let her draw the rest of the time. The second Andrew came to get her, Skye made a beeline for the door. She paused at the threshold, then turned. She nodded and gave Dr. Wells a very small smile, then left.

They went home and had a quick dinner before going to the Asian market. “Okay, so I know I’ve heard of kumquats, but these look like grape-sized oranges,” Skye pointed out, examining the fruit. 

William laughed. “They do, but they don’t taste like them,” he advised. “If you want to try one, put a couple in a bag.”

Skye smiled, putting the kumquats back in the bin. “You know, this one of the odder homes I’ve ever lived in.”

“Indeed?” William asked. “Has Mellie gone on one of her famous tirades against fast food yet?”

“Just a few times,” Skye hedged. “I’m not really a picky eater though, so it’s not a big deal.”

“I think it’s a big deal,” William pressed. “You should get to eat some of what you like. I remember a year that Mellie would eat nothing but macaroni and cheese. I pretty much perfected the recipe.”

“Yeah? What’s the secret?” Skye asked, genuinely curious.

“It’s the cheeses,” William answered. “You shouldn’t ever use just one. Oh, and cream. You use cream between the layers.”

“You’ll have to make it for me some time so I can try it,” Skye blurted out. She bit her lip. “I do love comfort food,” she admitted.

“Comfort food?” William further prompted.

“I like stews, soups, mac and cheese, grilled cheese…” she trailed off and smiled. “I love winter and the food that comes with it.”

“I believe I can make some of those as well as some variations that my mother taught me how to make,” William agreed. “Vegetable stew, for example, is not uncommon where my family’s from. There are also many ingredients that the Chinese believe have warming properties that can be used in recipes to establish feelings of comfort. There is a belief in Chinese culture that foods are either yin or yang. You must find a balance between the two for your body’s health. In Hunan, for example, they most commonly use spice to heat the body. Depending on how old you were when you came to the United States, you probably ate your first solid foods in that region.”

“Might explain why I can eat spicy food so easily,” Skye considered.

“Is there an interesting story behind that?” William asked with an easy smile.

“There’s a game that kids sometimes play when they’re bored,” Skye explained. “You take a bottle of Tabasco sauce and pass it around and place a drop on your tongue and see how long you can hold it. The other kids could never beat me, so one time they dared me to drink most of a bottle.”

“That would have been a very foolish thing to do,” William chortled mildly.

“I managed three swallows before one of the older kids stopped me,” Skye giggled. “It was pretty stupid.”

“I’m glad you were stopped, but I’m also glad that you enjoy spicy things. I should ask, I know you’re not picky, but everyone has foods they dislike. What are some of yours?”

“I’m not a fan of liver and onions,” Skye grimaced. “And Eggplant.”

“Not hard to avoid those,” William considered. “Mellie dislikes brussel sprouts and olives. Andrew hates peanut butter of all things. Everyone dislikes some things. I confess that I’m not fond of custard.”

“What?” Skye gaped, shocked. ”How can you not like custard?”

“I believe it is simply too sweet for me,” William advised, in an all-knowing, grandfatherly tone. “The way my parents raised my siblings and I, dessert was usually fruit, rather than a pastry or something with dairy in it.”

“No ice cream growing up?” Skye asked. “Not even once?”

“It was a very rare treat,” William considered. “Most often we’d eat frozen fruit to cool it off.”

“So were your parents in the… business too?” Skye asked.

William laughed. “No. My family came over to America when I was very young and they had a typical life of immigrants. I’m not ‘in the business’ either and I never was. I actually met Mellie’s mother from a mutual friend forty-five years ago. She didn’t tell me she was CIA until we were married.”

“That couldn’t have been much of a shock,” Skye deadpanned.

William actually smiled, his eyes twinkling. “It was, but I got over it. Everyone has secrets or things others don't know about. It's neither bad nor good - it simply is.”

\--------------

“Skye?” came Simmons’ tentative voice the next day, just as lunch was starting. Skye had stayed in her classroom during lunch the day previous, mostly due to embarrassment, too afraid to face the people that she knew were talking about her.

“Yeah?” Skye answered.

“Fitz and I were wondering if you wanted to come to lunch with us?”

“I’m good…” she shrugged, digging into her lunch, small baozi, or buns filled with steamed vegetables and pork, rice, and steamed spinach on the side, with gusto as she worked ahead on her history course.

“Fitz told me about what happened,” Simmon tried again, her tone not unkind.

“Yeah?” Skye questioned, perhaps a little harshly. “You hear it anywhere else?”

She didn’t have to look up to know that Simmons was blushing. “The whole academy’s talking about it, yes, but not in a bad way or anything, Skye.”

“The fact that I nearly took a guy’s hand off shouldn't be glorified,” Skye griped. “I did it because I had the right to keep his hand off of me, but that doesn't mean that I was completely in the right. I could have, should have, shown more restraint than that.”

“Jackson deserved it,” Simmons objected. There was something in her tone that Skye disliked. A callousness towards Jackson, as if he was written off for one action. It reminded her of a lot of people in her past who wrote her off.

“Who made you judge and jury?” Skye asked snidely. 

“I just meant…” Simmons started. 

“I know what you meant,” Skye interrupted. “You don't know him or his story. He was drunk. He made a mistake. He’s being punished. It shouldn’t be judged or debated past that.”

Simmons stared at Skye. “You… you really forgive him? Just like that?”

Skye stopped eating her baozi and stared at Simmons for a moment before realizing what she was doing. “I mean, I don't know about  _ forgive _ so much as… having a solid appreciation for justice and fairness,” Skye explained. “In the real world, you're lucky when you get  _ that _ .”

“If you feel that way, then why won’t you come down for lunch?” Simmons asked quietly.

Skye thought about her answer for a moment. Most of the cadets at the Academy already regarded her as somewhat fascinating. While most of her background was still unknown, the fact that she had an IQ of 175 and had been living on the street was known. Even before this particular incident, they looked at her like some strange, exotic animal that people stared at in the zoo.

“I don’t know. I guess I feel like I don’t really fit in here,” she denied. She didn’t. There were very few computer scientists compared to other concentrations at SciTech. Only a handful were good enough to pass the entrance exams, as most of the others went to Comms. Of them, only a couple of them opted for the public lunch. Some went down to the computer lab, but most went back to the dorm so that they could nap for an hour to lengthen the amount of time they could stay awake at night. Skye herself usually slept in the car both on the way to and back from SciTech so that she could stay up and work on hacking and programming projects with the others.

“I know it doesn’t feel like you do, but I promise that you do,” Simmons pleaded softly. “You just need some time.”

“Just because I’m smart doesn’t mean I’ll automatically fit in,” Skye pointed out, wishing Natasha or Bobbi were around. They understood her in ways that the cadets at SciTech didn’t. She wondered if all Ops cadets were going to understand her better than the SciTech or Comms cadets. She knew that generally Ops cadets had been through at least one tour in the armed forces. She hadn’t really been exposed to cadets outside of SciTech, and she had only met a few Ops cadets, but she wondered since she got the same respectful vibe from Coulson and Clint, despite her initial mistrust of them. Everyone had their own baggage. They’d lived through things. They’d seen things.

Clearly not knowing how to respond, Simmons simply nodded and went on her way. On Wednesday, Jo came by and dragged Skye to the computer lab, where they worked on the coding for a robot the bartenders were building into the bar that could help regulate shots as well as improving facial recognition and monitoring the blood alcohol level of the patrons to determine when to cut them off.

Jo explained that the Computer Science department did it every year for fun. The existing code, which was intricate yet elegant, was rather fun to tweak. The rest of the week passed without further incident. 

After classes and her session with Dr. Wells Friday, William took Skye to look at the cherry blossoms. It would be the last outing of his trip, as he was going back to Arizona the next morning. They had skipped the festival since Skye was still pretty jumpy around crowds, but she had enjoyed herself looking at all the flowers in bloom around the Basin. Mel and Andrew had made no mention of the adoption, though they had mentioned that sometimes it could take over a year for it to process. Skye hoped it wouldn’t take that long. She found herself actually loving being a part of the May-Garner clan, which was usually the point when things got screwed up.

“So, I wished to talk to you before I returned home,” William stated.

Skye stiffened. “What about?” she asked carefully.

“I wish to ask your permission to move here,” he told her. “I’ve been speaking with Mellie and Andrew regarding it and I believe I’ve convinced them that I am best of use here, but I do not wish to do so without your permission.”

“I… why ask me?” Skye asked bluntly.

“Well, you’re my new granddaughter, but you’re also a young woman with your own life. You would be affected with this as well.”

Skye merely blushed at William’s consideration. “I’d like that,” she admitted quietly.

“I’m glad,” William smiled. “I would like it as well.”

Skye blushed but had grown comfortable enough with her wàigōng that she was able to adjust herself so she could speak again. “I’m really glad that you’re my wàigōng,” she told him honestly.

“I’m very glad that you’re my sūnnǚ,” William gushed, placing an arm around her as they walked. They had long passed the point when Skye’s minute flinches got any reaction. It seemed that she did it with all men, no matter how much she trusted them. She even did it with Fitz. Dr. Wells had said that it would take time, but eventually she wouldn’t do that any more. They walked like that for a while, silently watching the flowers in the trees. It reminded her of the spring days she had spent in Central Park. 

Skye was dropped off at Triskellion on the way to Melinda and Andrew dropping William off at the airport the next morning. Her training session was with Clint and Natasha this morning. Natasha was quickly becoming a good friend and Skye didn’t jump around Clint when she heard a loud noise any more. She genuinely liked him. They had a similar sense of humor and Clint had shared with Skye that before he’d been a merc, he’d been in foster care himself.

After exchanging ‘good mornings’ and small talk, they led her down to a huge, expansive room with little stalls spaced every few feet, dividing most of the room from the part Skye and Clint entered. It took a moment before Skye pieced together where they were, but a moment was all it took for Skye to notice the handgun that had been placed in one of the stalls. 

Suddenly she was back in the closet, curled into a tiny ball, covering her mouth to prevent herself from making noise. He didn’t know she was home. She was home sick from school. She wasn’t supposed to be there. Her eyes went wide when she heard the screaming and the gunshots. She heard footsteps and she could see the gun through the slats in the closet door. 

She burrowed further back, biting her own hand to keep from screaming. Something was tugging her hand away from her mouth. There was a final gunshot and a thump and everything was silent. A voice was shouting at her. Wait… why would she hear a voice? The cops had taken hours to show up back then. But there was a voice, calling for her. 

“Skye?” came the voice again. “Skye, you’re not there. You’re at SHIELD. You’re safe.”

“Skye…” came a new voice. “Skye, you’re okay. I promise you’re okay. Just breathe.”

Skye blinked and saw Clint and Natasha looking down at her worriedly. Her hand was wet and she saw that her hand was stained with smears of blood and in stunned wonderment she saw bite marks around her thumb.

“Is it okay if I touch you?” Natasha asked carefully. Skye very slightly nodded and Natasha wrapped her in a tight hug. Skye leaned her head against Natasha. It had been years since she had thought about that day. She thought she’d gotten over it. Apparently she hadn’t.

Clint and Natasha made no moves to ask Skye what had happened. In fact, Clint was starting to look extremely guilty. 

Skye had curled her injured hand into herself, blood leaking out of the bite marks, staining her shirt, and Clint projected his movements as he reached for it. “It’s okay, I’m just going to take a look,” he implored softly. 

Skye tensed a little, but let him take her wounded hand. Clint didn’t touch the bite, but inspected it carefully. He nodded. “That’s probably going to need some stitches,” Clint asserted.

“It did the first time too,” Skye remembered. “When the cops found me… they had me go to the hospital.”

“Skye… you don’t have to…” Clint started to say. 

But she wanted to. With just Clint and Natasha, she wanted to. She knew they’d understand. “I was supposed to be at school,” she recollected, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I was home sick with a cold… just a stupid cold. It was one of the good homes. Both foster parents were nice. She made cookies on the weekends. He taught me how to fish… it was a really nice placement. A normal house in a normal neighborhood. Only it turned out she was having an affair. He came home in the middle of the day and they started arguing, so I hid in their closet… It was the only one big enough for me to hide in.” Both Natasha and Clint were sitting, listening to her patiently. “He was drunk and he shot her. Then he realized what he did and shot himself. I’m not… I haven’t been near a gun since.” Skye’s voice had grown small. “I thought I’d gotten over it. I guess not.”

Natasha hugged her tighter and Clint squeezed her good hand. “You don’t have to learn how to use a gun if you don’t want to, Skye, but if you do I think it’d be a good idea if we coordinated with your therapist to find a healthy way for you to get used to one,” Clint cajoled softly. “We don’t want to force anything.”

Skye didn’t say anything, simply nodding as she let herself be held by Natasha. “We should call Mel and Andrew,” Natasha added to Clint.

“No! You can’t,” Skye resisted, pulling away a little. Natasha wasn’t having any of it, unwilling to let her go once she had her. “They’re dropping wàigōng off at the airport. I don’t want them rushing over here just because of me. They should be given time to say goodbye.”

“They’d kill us if we didn’t call or at least text,” Clint needled her, already typing away on his phone. Skye closed her eyes and nodded

Natasha helped hoist Skye up. “Come on, let’s get you to medical so they can stitch you up.” Skye hesitated, looking suddenly unsure. “Skye?”

“What if… they’ll know…” she croaked. “I don’t want to know more people to know.” 

“They’ve seen worse,” Clint told her. “They don’t judge. They don’t even call it self-inflicted when it’s during a flashback. They might flag the report for your shrink to read, but there have been so many PTSD incidents over the years that they’re pretty aware of that whole thing isn’t under your control.”

“Still embarrassing…” Skye muttered, not caring that Natasha had looped her arm around Skye so that their elbows were locked.

“You want embarrassing?” Natasha asked. “Let me tell you about the time Clint shot himself in the ass, literally.”

Clint groaned. “Really? This story?” But a very small smile crept upon Skye’s lips

\-------------

“So Mel and Andrew keep saying confusing things,” Skye told Natasha while her hand was being cleaned and stitched up. Natasha and Clint had been right, Medical hadn’t even blinked at the sight of Skye’s hand, just set to stitching her up.

“How so?” Natasha asked.

“They keep bringing up the name that the nuns gave me after I was dropped off at the orphanage,” Skye groused.

“The one that you made us all swear not to mention?” Clint crowed. “M-”

“Don’t… even say it,” screeched Skye. She turned and shrugged at Natasha. “Yeah, but the way they talk about it… I don’t know… yesterday they asked me about some kind of name change?”

“Do you want to change your name when you’re adopted?” Natasha asked gently. “You could legally be Skye Garner or Skye May or some hyphenated version of the two names.”

Skye’s stare jolted from the needle that was piecing together her skin to Natasha. “What?”

“Well, you’ll have the chance to make a new name for yourself when you get adopted,” Natasha expanded.

“I’d get a name?” Skye asked softly. Being Mary Sue Poots, she never felt like she fit her name. She had known from a young age that it wasn’t her real name and thought that it was the one thing she wanted that she never could get. She went by Skye, everyone knew her as Skye and she didn’t have to fight anyone on it, however, some part of her felt sick every time Andrew or Melinda had to fill out documents with her legal name on it. “I mean, I can change it?” Andrew and Melinda were giving her more than she could ever ask for. A home, a family, and now a name? It seemed too good to be true.

“If you want a new name, you can,” Clint suggested. “With an adoption form, legal name changes are easy. Common, even.”

“It was never my name,” Skye denied. “The nuns gave it to me, not my parents. It never fit.”

“I get that,” Clint nodded. “Your name is part of what defines you. It tells the story of who raised you and who came before you. Though I have to say, I love the name that you chose for yourself. It suits you.”

“Skye… it means ‘sheltering’. Matt… my only friend at the orphanage… used to call me it because I used to protect the younger kids at the orphanage or at foster homes. It used to get me in trouble.”

“Sounds like you were made for SHIELD. Most of what we stand for is protection,” Clint joked with a reassuring smile. “Guess you were meant for this place.” The intern who was patching up Skye’s hand smiled as he finished the sutures and placed a bandage over it, then left the cubicle. 

“I want to… I want to try to become an Ops agent,” Skye insisted, her voice more solid and sure than it had ever been. “I want you to teach me how to handle a gun.”

“We can work on that. Once your therapist says it’s okay,” Natasha agreed. “Just consider your name options for now. Maybe sleep on it for a few nights.”

“I… I think I will,” Skye pondered slowly.

Melinda came in then, striding in with purpose. Skye made a beeline for her. The cry for her wanting her mother was stuck in her throat. She had been practicing it on her own, but hadn’t been able to say it in front of other people. Dr. Wells said it would come with time and Skye just needed to be patient. So instead of calling out for Melinda, she embraced her. Melinda wrapped her in warmth, obviously a little surprised by the hug. After a few moments, they broke off the embrace and Skye grabbed her coat with her good hand. “You okay?” Melinda asked quietly. Skye nodded silently. “Andrew’s keeping the car warm for us, he was going to come in, but Clint’s been keeping us informed and since you’re good to go, we didn’t want to embarrass you too much.”

“Thanks,” Skye said, blushing a little.

“You still got the basement set up for your warm ups and cool downs?” Nat asked. “We can continue this there…”

“Nat, she’s injured,” Melinda argued. “She doesn’t need-”

“She doesn’t need to know how to fight while injured?” Natasha asked.

“She’s not an Agent, Nat,” Melinda growled protectively.

“She wants to be,” Nat shot back. “She’s old enough to decide for herself. Besides, she should be prepared for anything.” 

The ride was pretty quiet, though all of them made small talk on the ride back. Skye wasn’t used to being at the house on a Saturday. Between Andrew, Melinda and wàigōng, they’d been keeping her weekends pretty busy.

Nat tied Skye’s injured hand behind her back so that she was comfortable, but couldn’t use it and Melinda and Nat taught her how to fight one-handed. That led to a pop-quiz on being tied up and a quick lesson on furthered skills. 

As the weeks passed, the weather warmed and Skye finally started to settle into the Garner-May household. Everyone in the house looked at it as a major achievement when Skye no longer tensed every time Andrew came into the room. She still did it with Coulson, Clint, Fury, and even Fitz, and Dr. Wells said that she might always do it around total strangers, but it was a start.

Unlike most teens her age who were getting ready for the end of the school year, Skye didn’t get a break from studying. She didn’t mind though, since Dr. Weaver had told her that if she kept going at the pace she was going she’d graduate by September, then handed her college applications. She’d taken the SATs and ACTs and gotten perfect scores, which lead to a night of pizza and ice cream to celebrate. Another goal achieved was going a full week without a nightmare for the first time in years. William sold his house and bought a condo in Bethesda. They usually saw him on the weekends, when he came over to spend time with Skye.

Skye finally felt in control of her life for the first time ever. Clint was helping Skye get over her fear of guns. He started her off showing her an unloaded gun. He took it apart to show her it was unloaded, put it back together, then had her hold it without the ammo clip. It had taken several sessions, but once she conquered that fear, Clint then had her hold a loaded gun. After that, they graduated to paintball.

“Go ahead and shoot me,” Clint encouraged her as they stood in a wooded area. “It hurts a little but that’s what the padding is for.”

Skye was hesitant, then pretended that she was in one of those old-timey Westerns like Clint told her. She aimed in Clint’s general direction, shut her eyes, and squeezed the trigger. “Bang!” she shouted.

She expected Clint to chuckle or judge her at her lousy shot, but she heard no sound so she opened her eyes. Clint was right next to her smiling. “That was a good first effort, Skye,” he encouraged. “Do you want to try again?”

Skye nodded shakily. “Okay,” she agreed shakily.

“Good deal,” he praised. “Instead of closing your eyes, try looking through me. Imagine what’s behind me.”

Skye tried again, and only shut her eyes for a second. When she opened them, she saw a little splatter of blue paint on Clint’s shoulder. “Good job. Don’t worry about aim right now, we can work on that later. This is all about you getting you used to firing a weapon at someone.”

“But… I mean, I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Skye denied softly.

Clint nodded, “I know. I don’t either. Nat and I… we both lived lives where we did what we could to survive, and that involved hurting people sometimes. When we got out and came here, we decided we didn’t want to do that anymore. We wanted to protect people who didn’t deserve to get hurt. But sometimes that still means hurting people because it’s the only way to stop them.”

Skye took a deep breath. “I get that,” Skye affirmed.

“Do you want to try again?” Clint asked.

“Yeah,” Skye agreed nodding.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye graduates High School and Melinda and Andrew prove their love for Skye

Skye, it seemed, had a knack for shooting once Clint got her over her fears. While nothing was official, Skye quickly graduated from “Qualified” to “Sharp Shooter” and began increasing her skill towards “Expert” as the months passed. Clint was so pleased he even started teaching her how to accurately fire a bow and arrow. 

Natasha was similarly impressed with Skye’s achievements and finally started teaching her how to spar once SHIELD medical cleared her. Skye wondered if SHIELD training was always this hard. Natasha was ruthless, never giving Skye an inch and pushing her to her breaking point at every workout. 

The workouts increased to twice a week, with Skye going to the Triskellion Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays after school, plus Saturdays all day. With her life as busy as it was, It seemed like no time at all before Andrew’s parents came for a visit.

She actually felt brave enough to bring up the topic at her therapy session before they went and picked them up from the airport. “I’m meeting Andrew’s parents this weekend,” she announced.

Dr. Wells nodded, “How do you feel about that?” she asked curiously.

Skye shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I’ve never really met many grandparents. None, except wàigōng. What if they hate me?”

“Do you think how Andrew’s parents feel about you will change how Andrew or Melinda feel about you?” Dr. Wells asked.

Skye frowned. “I… no?” she noted. “I mean, I know that they… they want me and everything.”

“Do you think if Andrew’s parents said anything against you, they’d defend you?” Dr. Wells asked. Very slowly, Skye nodded. Dr. Wells smiled. “Okay, this is what I want you to do this week. If anyone does anything that bothers you, I want you to tell Melinda and Andrew. If you need your space, give yourself that. But try challenging yourself to be out of your comfort zone.”

Skye’s comfort zone was a common topic in therapy. As she recovered, Skye was settling into a mode where she was on edge around all men except for Andrew. Even with Clint she was on edge, though it was a lesser degree. Dr. Wells was constantly challenging her to try and get more comfortable with interacting with men she didn’t know well.

Skye had had some success with it, especially at SciTech academy since with what Natasha was teaching her she could kick some untrained ass, but she still had yet to break her habit of checking the exits every time someone entered a room. Natasha didn’t think it was such a bad thing.

“Hypervigilance is a great tool for an agent to have,” Nat noted repeatedly. “Not everyone has it, even in Ops.”

After Andrew and Melinda picked Skye up from therapy, they drove to the airport which was pretty crowded. Skye was on edge due to the crowd, but not uncomfortably so. Somehow knowing Skye was feeling anxious about Andrew’s parents arriving, they kept reassuring her. “They’re going to love you,” Melinda gushed. 

“Drew!” called a voice. Skye looked towards the source of the voice to see two older people looking very much like Andrew coming towards them. The older couple immediately embraced Andrew when they reached him.

“Hey Mom, hey Dad, how was your flight?” Andrew asked.

“Oh fine, fine,” the woman, Skye’s Nana, jabbered, waving Andrew off. “Hello, Mel.” Melinda got a tight hug, which caused Skye to shift nervously. “How are you? What have you been up to? We don’t hear from you two nearly enough.”

“You must be Skye,” the man, Pop-pop grinned, extending a hand. 

Skye recoiled back slightly, keeping her eyes on the hand, then hesitantly shook it. “Hi,” she greeted shyly.

“It’s very nice to finally meet you,” Nana smiled. 

They drove in relative silence back to the house, Skye sitting in the back seat and still eyeing Nana and Pop-pop. It was late when they got home, so Skye went up to bed while the adults gathered around the kitchen table for dessert. As quietly as possible, Skye stopped on the very last stair and listened to what the adults were talking about.

“Are you sure you don’t want to send her to us? Your jobs can’t be giving Skye the sense of normality that she needs,” Nana pressed. 

Skye frowned, but Melinda spoke up in her defense. “Skye’s old enough to make decisions on her own.”

“But she’s so quiet,” Pop-pop noted. “Are you sure she’s telling you what she wants?”

“I think I know my daughter well enough to know what she wants and how she’s feeling,” Andrew shot back angrily. Or as angrily as Andrew ever got. Which really wasn’t that angry, in Skye’s view of things.

“We’re just concerned,” Nana cringed. “For all of you. Given what you’ve told me, doesn’t she deserve a father  _ and  _ mother who are always there? Melinda, you put your life in danger every day and Andrew, you sometimes go into the office on a Saturday.”

“We have friends and family around here that Skye can go to. People Skye  _ knows _ ,” Melinda argued, trying to underline her point.

“I don’t like the way she looks at us,” Pop-pop retorted. “It’s like she doesn’t trust us. You should be able to trust family.”

Andrew sighed. “We talked about this,” he hissed softly. “Repeatedly. Skye’s history is complicated. She’s not going to trust you right away. You have to give her time.”

“What can we do?” Nana asked, her tone still clipped.

“There’s no way to speed up the process. You have to be okay with the fact that she’s going to set the pace,” commanded Andrew.

Pop-pop said something that she couldn’t hear and Skye crept back to her room, aware of the fact that Melinda probably heard her, but also aware of the fact that Melinda and Andrew were defending her and her choices to other people. Maybe she  _ could _ trust them to take care of her.

The rest of the weekend passed without panic attacks and without nightmares, but also without Skye bonding much with her Nana and Pop-pop. Skye had been given a long weekend so she could spend time with her grandparents, who seemed happy to take her to the various museums in D.C. to spend time with her, but obviously expected her to act a certain way. Skye was almost sad when it was over, but was extremely proud of herself that she’d gone the entire weekend without a single issue. But her grandparents still talked to her parents at night about moving Skye to California, making Skye extremely nervous. All in all, Skye was quite happy to return to her schoolwork, however, as well as to see her friends.

The summer passed otherwise uneventfully. Skye worked extra hard and was pleased that her hard work had paid off when Dr. Weaver revealed to Skye that all she needed to do was pass her final exams and she’d be graduated. Since applications for colleges were due in June, Skye had worked hard and gotten acceptances from all three schools she had applied to, pending documentation from SHIELD of her earning a high school diploma. Skye had accepted admission to Georgetown, since it was fairly close to SHIELD and would be an easy commute.

It started simply enough. Skye started feeling extra tired, presumably because of her finals. She ignored the fatigue as best as she could, pushing through to get the last of her tests done. By Thursday she had felt a general ache in her bones that she knew came with a cold sometimes. By the end of the week, she definitely had a cold, since she was coughing and was a little congested. Melinda had frowned at her cough each morning and passed her lemon ginger tea and zinc tablets. The zinc tablets were foul and Skye refused to take them, but the lemon ginger tea was soothing on her throat and made Skye feel a lot better. The following week, Melinda started sending her off to the academy with some in a thermos every day. 

Since the graduation had been restricted to family-only, something that Skye wasn’t complaining about since her friends didn’t exactly know her parents were both Agents of SHIELD, an informal lunch had been put together by Dr. Weaver for her friends at SciTech on the Friday before her ceremony . The party had turned into a bit of a wild event. Wild for SHIELD, at least. The party had continued to the Boiler Room after lunch, where non-alcoholic drinks and snacks were served.

“Good Job, Skye,” Jo congratulated Skye as the older woman tightly hugged her. Skye didn’t stiffen too much at the action. Jemma hugged her as well and Fitz shook her hand, respectful of the fact that she didn’t like when men hugged her.

Others were there, like her tutors, and the CS cadets she’d made friends with from both Comms and SciTech were all there, wishing her luck with college and her job as a part-time Level 2 Comms analyst. 

The fifth time Skye sneezed at the party, Jemma frowned. “Are you feeling all right, Skye?” Jemma asked.

“I’m fine,” Skye dismissed. “Just a cold. Probably too many late nights staying up to study. I’m fine.”

“You should load up on Vitamin C and rest for a few days now that you’re done,” Jemma noted. “You’re not starting at the Triskellion yet, are you?” 

“Nah, Fury won’t let me start until I’m actually enrolled in classes, which happens in January,” Skye divulged. “I’m sure now that I’m done with school for a few months, my foster mom will be all over making sure I don’t get any sicker than this.” She smiled, if a little stiffly. Things had been a little awkward since the fallout from the incident in the Boiler Room, but Skye had accepted a very insightful assessment from Jo who noted that Jemma didn’t have a lot of life experience. Her parents were both well-respected in their careers and when they discovered her high IQ, they immediately put her in advanced classes and made sure that her surrounding environment was nothing but supportive. Skye accepted the fact that Jemma was simply a little naive.

Jemma nodded, accepting Skye’s statement. “As long as you’re sure,” she said with a warm smile. 

Skye went to bed extremely early that night and woke up late the next morning feeling like she’d been run over by a truck.

Melinda’s frown deepened as she reached over and felt Skye’s forehead subconsciously. “Mel, I’m fine,” Skye said, annoyed.

“You don’t look fine,” Andrew interjected. 

“It’s just a cold,” Skye grumbled. “I promise I’ll come back to bed right after the graduation ceremony and you can feed me whatever you want.”

“Whatever you want, Mel. That’s quite the offer,” Andrew grinned. He grew serious when he looked at Skye though. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked Skye, giving her a small side-hug.

Skye nodded. “I’m fine,” she reassured them.

After one of Melinda’s super-healthy breakfasts, they made their way to the Triskellion where they were holding the ceremony in an unused office. The ceremony was short, since Skye was the only one graduating. Nat and Clint had both shown up in support, as had Bobbi, Hunter, armed with a guest pass for the event, and Coulson. Coulson wanted to take them all out for lunch and Skye could feel Melinda looking at and evaluating her. After she was given her diploma and wàigōng took pictures of her, Melinda, and Andrew, she spotted an older woman in the doorway. 

“Who’s that?” Skye asked curiously.

Mellinda stiffened when she spotted who Skye was referring to. “That’s my mother,” she hedged. “Your wáipo.” Skye immediately felt nervous. It wasn’t talked about, but Skye knew that Melinda’s mother didn’t approve of Skye’s presence in the Garner-May household. From the snippets of conversations she managed to hear Melinda having on the phone or with wàigōng, Mel’s mother thought of Skye as a runaway and a criminal. The matriarch of the May family thought that having to take care of a foster kid was holding Melinda back. Both Melinda and William were hoping to bring her around

Melinda instinctively put herself between her mother and Skye. “Mel,” Andrew began patiently. Skye was nervous to meet her wáipo. Even Andrew, who seemed to have nice things to say about pretty much everyone, had warned Skye about some of Lian May’s qualities. 

Melinda immediately started talking in rapid-fire Mandarin and Lian responded in kind. Not long after, wàigōng weighed in. Skye was only catching about every second or third word, but knew that they were talking about her and not in a positive way.

Skye did her best to stay out of it but managed to hear Melinda yell ‘ qù sǐ’, or ‘go die’ at her mother.  “I don’t think your Mom means for you to listen in on this particular conversation,” Nat explained, leading Skye into an adjoining room. Skye colored a little when she heard Lian’s response which was less than polite. She glanced back at the room and noticed that Bobbi and Hunter had placed themselves between her and the doorway to the other room, protecting her from Lian. Coulson and Clint had taken up post by the door that led to the hallway, talking quietly while Coulson rather obviously tried not to stare. Skye colored further. “You feeling okay? You look a little flush,” Natasha questioned, looking concerned.

“Just a cold,” Skye defended. “I’m sure Mel and Andrew are going to tell you guys that we’re going to be delaying the celebration.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Nat needled.

“They’re just overreacting,” Skye grumbled.

“Let them overreact,” Natasha advised. “They’ll calm down eventually. But allow yourself to enjoy being coddled.”

“You don’t,” Skye pointed out.

Natasha smiled as if she knew something Skye didn’t. “How do you know?” Skye realized that she didn’t. She’d only seen Natasha around a healthy number of SHIELD agents or within SHIELD itself. It was entirely possible that Natasha acted differently with other people.

There was a slamming that made Skye jump and she just caught Lian May marching past them, glaring at Skye, then walking out of sight towards the elevators. Skye couldn’t help but feel like she always had with every family who rejected her. She wilted, head down and sniffling. It always started with one person, then spread to the rest of the family. What if Melinda and Andrew wouldn’t want to adopt her because Lian disapproved? What if Melinda came to regret her decision and blamed Skye for it?

Nat slipped a hand into Skye’s, or tried to, but Skye flinched away. Clint came over and asked in a low voice, “Would you like to sit down?” 

Skye nodded wordlessly, and, without touching her, Clint led her to a chair. Skye immediately drew her knees to her chest, refusing to cry but at the same time mentally berating herself. She heard Melinda and Andrew arguing softly in the other room. 

William came in, spotted Skye, and immediately sat down next to her. “Your grandmother is rather bull-headed when it comes to career. She never forgave Melinda for joining SHIELD rather than the CIA like Lian had. She thought Melinda was ruining her life. She did, however, come to respect the career and reputation Melinda has made for herself. That is Lian, she makes snap judgements and sometimes assesses things incorrectly. She will come to see you for who you truly are.”

“Why does she hate me?” Skye wanted to know. “Am I really that useless?”

“You are not useless, little one,” William corrected. “You are my granddaughter, and you deserve this love and this family. Today is not a day for sorrow, it is one for pride. You have graduated High School and deserve to celebrate it.”

Skye unfolded herself a little and he hugged her tightly. “Thank you, wàigōng,” Skye cried quietly.

“Any time my dear. Now, I believe we are going to lunch?”

Her family helped in reassuring her that she was loved, but their efforts to keep Skye healthy were less fruitful. Her cold grew steadily worse on Sunday and Monday, enough that Melinda started making noise about making a doctor’s appointment for Skye. Despite Skye’s insistence that she was fine, Melinda and Andrew had insisted on cancelling her Tuesday training with Nat and Clint. Skye woke up early that morning, however, and realized that cancelling may have been a good idea. The mild ache that had been around the week previous had flared, and Skye suddenly felt the urgent need to run to the nearest toilet.

She only just made it. Melinda came in not long after Skye and held her hair while Skye emptied her stomach. Melinda rubbed her back in comfort for a moment, then felt her forehead. “Oh Skye, you’re really hot,” Melinda declared sympathetically.

It reminded her of one of the few other times she’d been sick, when she’d been with the Brodys. Mrs. Brody had kept her in bed for a few days and served her Campbell’s chicken soup. It hadn’t been exactly pleasant but the idea of someone taking care of her had been  _ nice _ .

She must have drifted off resting on the cool tile of the bathroom wall, because the next thing she knew, she heard Melinda speaking “Skye? Come on, let’s get you off of the bathroom floor,” Melinda was saying, lifting her. It took a moment for Skye to find her feet. “You were right, Andrew,” Melinda affirmed to Andrew who was waiting outside.

“M’fine,” Skye mumbled.

“That word’s about to be banned from coming out of your mouth,” Melinda ordered without any real fire in them, continuing to lead her back to bed. “Andrew’s going downstairs to get you some ginger ale and saltines. We anticipated this might happen.” 

Skye wasn’t completely sure what that meant, but at the mention of food, she turned back for the toilet. Melinda let her go, but went with her. Locating a hair tie, Melinda secured Skye’s hair in a low ponytail, then passed her a cup of water. Once Skye had rinsed out her mouth, Melinda helped her back to bed. Everything ached. She shut her eyes, feeling exhausted as well. Melinda sat next to her. “I need you to open your mouth, Skye.”

Skye did as she was told and felt Melinda insert a long thin tube under her tongue. Thermometer, her brain supplied. Skye dozed off, then awoke with a start when it beeped. “What’s the verdict?” Andrew’s voice came from somewhere nearby, but her brain was too tired to figure out where from. 

“102.4º. Definitely flu. What did medical say?” Melinda asked.

“They said she should come in in a couple of days, just to be sure she doesn’t develop pneumonia. But if her fever gets over 103º or she starts to display any severe symptoms to get her in right away.”

Skye snuggled in deep into her covers, wanting to sleep. Melinda stroked her hair.

Skye blinked and she was… back at St. Agnes’? She felt awful, but she was lying on her old utilitarian bed with one blanket. There had never been enough for extras, even for sick orphans. She thought she heard Matt calling for her, so she responded. “Matt?” she asked. No one answered. “Matt? Where are you? Where is everyone?” She felt really awful but she had to get up and find everyone.

But when she tried to get up, her blanket refused to lift to let her up. The struggle seemed endless. She started to cry out in frustration and someone was calling her name. Suddenly she bolted out of bed, or tried to, without really opening her eyes. Suddenly she was back in her own room and Melinda was holding onto her tightly. 

Somehow Skye knew that it was her. Her Māmā. Skye's bed had been stripped down to her sheets and a blanket. She felt freezing and her head was pounding. “Skye?” Melinda asked.

“Māmā?” Skye asked in confusion. Melinda sucked in her breath.

“Here’s the cold compress,” Andrew offered, coming in. 

“Good,” Melinda praised. “Skye, I have something to cool you off. Do you think you can drink some water?”

“Māmā?” she asked again in confusion, not sure what Melinda was asking her. She didn’t need cooling off. She was cold enough.

A cool metal object was pushed between Skye’s lips. “Suck,” Melinda commanded, her voice leaving no room for debate. Skye identified the object as one of their reusable straws. She did what she was told. “Not too much, Skye,” Melinda warned, taking the straw away.

“Māmā?” Skye asked again.

“I’m here, Skye, I’m here.” Melinda assured her. 

“Where’s Matt?” she questioned curiously. “‘Supposed to be here…” She didn’t understand why he wasn’t answering her. There was a long silence and Skye cracked open an eye. What she feared was true - the light felt like a knife to her eyes. Skye shut them again and whimpered.

“Andrew, turn down the light,” Melinda instructed. “Try again Skye.” Skye opened her eyes successfully that time, though her head throbbed painfully. She whimpered, but kept her eyes open. “Do you know who this is?” Melinda asked, pointing to Andrew. Skye nodded. “What about me?” 

Skye felt like her face was on fire as she realized what she’d called Melinda. “Please, kill me now,” Skye muttered as her stomach rolled. She sat up in a rush and a trash can appeared in front of her, just in time for her to lose her stomach contents again. It took her a minute to realise that Melinda was wiping her brow with the cold cloth.

“It’s okay,” Melinda assuaged, using her free hand to stroke at Skye’s jaw. “When you want to call me Māmā, you can. No pressure.” Skye would later blame the fever, but she leaned her head into Melinda’s hand. It was cool and felt nice. Melinda helped her lay down and gave her another sip of water to help with the taste.  “Do you think you can try to drink some soup?”

Skye felt her nausea flare up and burrowed deeper into the sheets. She really just wanted to sleep. “‘M tired,” she murmured.

“I know, sweetie,” Melinda cajoled. “Just drink a little bit and you can sleep.”

Skye did so. The bone broth was lukewarm, but it tasted good. Homemade. She wanted to sleep after that, but Melinda had her change into a new pair of pyjamas and it registered that her current ones were damp with sweat. Andrew excused himself to give her privacy.

“Who’s Matt?” Melinda asked curiously. Skye furrowed her eyebrows. “You said his name… I think you’ve mentioned him before. He was your friend?”

“Matt… came to the orphanage when I was six,” she clarified quietly. “He, uh, aged out. His dad left him a whole bunch of money so he’s going to Columbia right now. He wants to be a lawyer. I was… mad at him when I left.”

Mel set to taking Skye’s temperature. “102.9,” Melinda read, frowning. “I think it’s time to have you get checked out by SHIELD medical.”

“‘M fine,” Skye muttered. She didn’t want doctors. She didn’t want to even move.

“Skye, do you remember what the doctors said when we found you?” Melinda asked. “Your immune system is recovering. It’s easier for you to get seriously ill. We just want to make sure you’re alright.” Melinda helped Skye back into bed. “I’ll go call them to see if the appointment can be moved up.”

Skye clung on when Melinda stood to move. Between the dream and feeling sick, it felt like her walls had melted completely. She felt vulnerable… exposed. She didn’t want to be alone. Melinda froze at Skye’s actions. “I’ll make the call here. Don’t worry Skye, I’m not going anywhere.”

An hour later, Melinda helped Skye into the car while Andrew got in the driver’s seat. “You guys okay back there?” he asked, glancing back and seeing Skye looking pretty pitiful. 

Melinda had brought along a water bottle which she had Skye slowly sip while they made their way into SHIELD. After a thirty minute drive and a twenty minute wait, Dr. Jones, who’d seen Skye the two previous times that Skye had visited Medical, brought them into an exam room. By this point, Skye was completely wiped out, had thrown up twice, and her fever had risen half a degree. Andrew waited out in the hall while a nurse and Melinda helped Skye change from her top to a hospital gown. She was thankfully allowed to keep her sweatpants on.

“Mel tells me you’re not feeling that great,” Dr. Jones noted. 

Skye shook her head, but stopped when she got dizzy and her nausea flared. She must have had some physical reaction to this, since Melinda grabbed a trash can and supported her so she didn’t topple over when she threw up. Melinda stroked Skye’s brow with her hand, then offered her a few sips of water. Melinda looked a little helpless, but Dr. Jones was giving them both a reassuring look.

“It’s early flu season and it’ll probably just run its course, but given how we found you in January, we want to make sure that you don’t develop pneumonia,” the doctor explained. Skye was normally nervous around doctors, but she trusted Melinda to take care of her and she drifted off.  

Melinda watched Skye worriedly, disbelieving that she felt such maternal instincts towards Skye in such a short period of time. Logically, she knew this wasn’t a life-or-death situation. Skye just had the flu and the virus just needed a few days to run its course, but somehow she was more terrified than some of the truly dangerous situations she’d been in over the years.

She watched over Skye as blood was drawn, x-rays and swabs were taken. Skye didn’t really wake up for any of it. She leaned into Melinda’s hand when the blood got drawn and hissed at the cold in the x-ray room. She threw up the quarter of the bottle of water she’d drunk and thankfully missed her pants, so she only needed her hair washed and a new gown. 

The SHIELD medical staff thankfully let her sleep, mostly. After two hours of tests, Dr. Jones finally came back in while Melinda and Andrew flanked Skye’s bed.“It’s definitely the flu,” she confirmed. “No trace of pneumonia or any other infections so far, but we’re concerned about her fever. We’ll give her some IV fluids to combat the dehydration and some medication to get control of it.”

“Thanks,” Melinda inhaled, letting go of the tension she hadn’t known she was holding on to. 

“I’ll put through the papers to admit her,” the doctor confirmed.

Not long after the nurse came and set up an oxygen line, pulse meter, and IV, Skye started crying for her Māmā again. “I’m here, Skye,” Melinda assured her. Skye started crying and whispering that Andrew and Melinda didn’t want her, that they were going to give her away like the others had. She started to go into detail about things that weren’t in file. Things that made Melinda pale. 

Melinda wondered when the feeling of utter helplessness that came with these types of situations had kicked in. Andrew went home to gather supplies for everyone. 

Once she was settled and had quieted, Skye’s doctor returned and assured Melinda that this was just a precaution. “This way she can be constantly monitored because otherwise you’d try to stay up until she was stable, which wouldn’t be something we could condone.”

“Did I fail her?” Melinda asked, surprising even herself.

Dr. Jones shook her head. “These things happen,” she reassured the new mother. “Even with kids who aren’t dealing with what Skye is. I once went on an orchestra trip and ended up getting pneumonia when I was Skye’s age. It’s not a sign of bad parenting at all. The real indicator is that you did something the second you needed to. ”

Skye mostly slept over the next two days, which both Melinda and Andrew were grateful for. It gave them the chance to worry without Skye witnessing it. The first night, they were validated in bringing Skye in. Her fever briefly soared up to 106℉ while Melinda and Andrew were both asleep and were awakened by nurses rushing in with ice packs and cooling blankets. It took a bit of work, and Melinda was never more thankful to the SHIELD nurses, but they got Skye’s fever back in a safe range. Still, Melinda nearly cried with relief when Skye opened her eyes and recognized them after the still silence they’d been met with when they’d awoken. 

On the morning of the third day, Skye’s fever broke. She was still NPO, getting nutrients via IV as her nausea hadn’t subsided, but she was conscious enough to watch movies with her parents. By day four, she could tolerate a piece of toast. By day six, despite the fact that she was still sleeping a lot, she was well enough to finally be discharged. 

Transferring her into her wheelchair and wrapping her up to ensure that she’d stay warm, Skye immediately dozed off. Melinda helped her into the car, then Melinda sat next to her, wrapping her in her arms and Skye relaxed and went back to sleep. 

“You okay back there?” Andrew asked, much as he had when they’d headed to the hospital.

“I’ll be fine, Andrew,” Melinda asserted softly. 

“Are you sure?” Andrew challenged. “You look…”

“She called me Māmā, Drew,” Melinda choked out quietly. Skye shifted slightly against Melinda and made a contented noise.

“I know,” Andrew murmured faintly. 

“I never…” Melinda started, but trailed off, getting too emotional as she stroked her daughter’s hair.

“She’s come a long way in nine months,” Andrew confirmed softly.

“I… we have a  _ daughter _ ,” Melinda stated, as if the news was brand new information.

“Hopefully soon, officially,” Andrew noted. The court had sent over a caseworker on two separate afternoons in the months prior to check the home and interview Melinda, Andrew, and Skye. Skye had gotten extremely anxious about facing a caseworker but had managed through it as long as she was in full view of Melinda or Andrew. The caseworker made it clear to the pair of them that in most cases this would count against them, in fear that they were manipulating Skye, but given Skye’s extensive history he sort of expected it.

Their family lawyer told them that they’d receive a court date for the official adoption procedure any day, but for now they had to take care of Skye. Andrew had included William in the people that he had called that morning, so by the time that they got home, William had brought over healing Chinese herbs, homemade Congee (Chinese chicken noodle soup), raw honey, and flowers, which Skye couldn’t smell, but looked pretty. 

Skye had expected to be brought up to her room, but instead Andrew put spare sheets and blankets on the couch where Skye would be in full view of the big screen TV. Rather conspicuously, she was also in full view of Andrew and Melinda, but the attention wasn’t so horrible. She got a happy, warm feeling when thought about it. It was a weird feeling though, one she’d never felt before and couldn’t really identify. She couldn’t focus long enough to figure it out, but really she just wanted Māmā to keep holding her. 

Māmā, however, let her go, and Skye let out a whine. “I’ve got it, Melinda,” Andrew reassured his wife softly, “go ahead and take care of our girl.”

The warm feeling came back when she heard what Andrew called her. She belonged. She was okay with belonging. Māmā held her close and laid her down on the couch. Māmā sat on the floor, opened a can of ginger ale and put a metal straw in it before offering it to Skye. “Drink,” Māmā pleaded. Skye did so, already feeling the pull of sleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye gets a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while since I updated and I'm sorry *wince*. Here's some fluff to make up for it.

“I’m fine,” Skye argued, as Melinda inserted the thermometer under Skye’s tongue. Melinda gave her one of her patented  _ looks _ . Skye rolled her eyes.

“You’ll stay home until I say so,” Melinda asserted seriously. 

“M’feveths ‘on,” Skye disputed, but she waited for the machine to beep before taking out the device. “It’s been three days since I had one. I’m not nauseous or congested any more, and I’m barely coughing. Why can’t I go to weapons practice with Clint?”

“Most people with the flu are only symptomatic for three days. You were hospitalized for six and symptomatic for a full ten,” Melinda maintained. “I think you should stay home tonight as well as Saturday.”

“But that’s boring,” Skye moaned. “I haven’t been off this couch in days.”

“That’s not true,” Andrew pointed out, smiling. “You took a shower yesterday.”

“Yeah but … I wasn’t allowed to go in alone,” Skye grumbled. Skye had referred to Melinda as ‘Māmā’ for the first week of the flu when she had a relatively high fever and was almost constantly in and out of sleep. Now that she was more conscious, she was having a harder time with the title. She knew Melinda would be okay with whatever Skye called her, but she wanted Melinda to be Māmā, desperately. 

“Skye, what’s wrong?” Melinda asked, softly. Apparently, Skye’s usual poker face was crap when she was sick.

“Nothing,” Skye grumbled. “Just thinking about a problem Jo sent me yesterday.”

“You know, I know when you’re lying,” Melinda remarked. “This isn’t about you thinking that we’re going to be returned to the orphanage because you got sick, is it? Skye, you know we love you, right?

“Our lives are better because you’re here with us,” Andrew reassured Skye with a smile. 

Skye’s cheeks colored deeply. “You really don’t mind?”

“Mind what?” Melinda queried.

“If I call you Māmā?” Skye murmured, so quiet Melinda could barely hear her.

“Oh Skye, nothing would make me happier,” Melinda choked out thickly.

“Call us whatever you’re comfortable with,” Andrew declared.

“I don’t… know if I can,” Skye professed softly.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Melinda asked softly.

“No… I… the only other person I called Mom… I was… I had the flu and she took care of me. And when I got better, I wanted to… I wanted to try it. They sent me back the next day.”

Melinda sat next to Skye. “We’re not going to send you back, Skye. And no matter how many times we need to tell you that, we can,” she explained patiently.

“I don’t want to go back,” Skye cried. 

Melinda wrapped Skye up in a hug. “You’re not going back,” Melinda attested. “Not if I have anything to do about it.”

Thankfully, Melinda and Andrew had to go to work, but William came over and they watched movies like they had for the past week. Slowly but surely, Skye got better. Time passed and Dr. Wells announced that Skye could reduce her therapy sessions to Mondays and Fridays. When Natasha heard this, she announced that Skye’s training could increase to four times a week.

The rest of September and most of October sped by and before Skye could blink, they were attending her adoption hearing for Māmā and Andrew to adopt her.

“I confess, I rarely see files as thick as the file of Mary Sue Poots,” the judge declared.

Skye hung her head and Māmā slipped a hand into hers and squeezed. Skye wasn’t sure if she was more embarrassed by the thickness of her file or the fact that the judge had to use Skye’s legal name aloud. Māmā seemed to understand. She glanced back at the people behind her and Clint and Natasha both gave her supportive smiles.

“Mary Sue, do you mind if I asked you a few questions in my chambers?” the judge asked.

Skye’s head shot up and paled. But Māmā had told her that is was okay to ask questions. “Can I have someone come with me?”

The judge frowned. “I’d prefer for your guardians not to be in attendance to make sure they don’t coach you.”

There was movement behind her. “I’ll come with her, your honor,” Skye heard Clint say.

The judge gave Clint a pointed look. “And… you are?”

“Clint Barton, your honor. I… I found Skye in my apartment before Agents May and Garner took guardianship.”

“Do you have any ties to them?” the judge asked.

“Only a vague professional one, your honor,” Clint stated. “We work for the same company but I’m not in the same department as Agent Garner and Agent May and I have never worked a case together. Our only tie is Skye.”

“Would Agent Barton be okay?” the judge asked Skye. Skye nodded vigorously.

It was the work of a moment for Skye and Clint to be led to the judge’s chambers.

“First of all,” the judge declared. “I’d like to apologize on behalf of the court for your treatment in the foster system. On average most cases -”

“It’s fine,” Skye dismissed quickly. “I… prefer not to talk about it.” Dr. Wells had told her in their session before her adoption that she was allowed to tell the judge if she didn’t want to talk about her past.

“I hope you understand that I need to make sure that you’re not being coerced into this. That this is something you want.”

Skye blushed. “Māmā and Andrew… they’re the best things that ever happened to me. I… I thought parents like them… I thought they were fairy tales, sir.”

“And they’ve never hurt you?”

Skye started getting choked up, but shook her head vigorously. Clint squeezed her shoulder. “Māmā and Andrew… they got me a psychologist, take care of me when I’m sick or hurt. They… they were the first authority figures that ever saw any value in me. They never even talk down to me. I don’t think Andrew has it in him to hurt someone intentionally. And Māmā… she’s  _ protective _ . Defensive, not offensive.”

Both Clint and the judge each gained a pained look on their faces. “Maybe politicians should be donating more time and funds to investing the system rather than other things.”

“I’m sorry?” Skye asked.

“I’m afraid you’re not the first foster case that I’ve seen with a history of abuse,” the judge stated. “You’re not even the first foster case with a history of abuse this  _ month _ .”

“Most of the kids in my orphanage were abused,” Skye agreed softly. “One of my friends from there is blind… one of his foster families tried to perform an exorcism to get him to see again.”

The judge grimaced, then paused as he noticed something. “And that bruise on your cheek?” the judge asked, suspiciously.

“After I recovered from living on the streets, Agent Barton and his partner have been teaching me how to defend myself,” Skye declared. “I got this sparring.”

“I can corroborate that,” Clint piped up. “We were sparring last week and she took a punch to the jaw. We got her checked out by a doctor and she’s fine.”

The judge eyed them both for a moment, then nodded acceptance. “I believe you. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m pretty good at telling the difference between the truth and excuse making. So yes, I believe you.” He sighed heavily, then continued. “I donate large funds to four different local charities dedicated to helping foster kids, I also donate my time as the coach of a foster kids’ soccer team, but… four years in this job, I’m starting to think we might need better legal oversight.”

“What I could have used more than anything is for someone to believe me,” Skye murmured quietly. “No one ever believes foster kids - we’re automatically treated as liars by everyone. Even if a foster kid  _ is _ lying to get out of a home, there’s going to be a reason why.”

“Would you come to me if something changes?” The judge asked. “If anything happens at home? I would like reassurances that this doesn’t reoccur.”

“No,” Skye denied, uncomfortably. There were only five people in the world she trusted. The judge wasn’t one of them.

“She can come to me,” Clint clarified. “Or my partner. Or the company director. Skye has a lot of people looking out for her now that we have her.”

“Good,” the judge granted. “I trust that you’ll deal with it appropriately if it happens?”

“If it happens, I’ll kick both their asses,” Clint growled. The judge gave Clint a look. “Okay, yes. If it happens, I’d get Skye to safety and make sure the correct charges were filed against the offending party.”

“Does that work for you?” the judge asked, looking at Skye. Skye nodded.

“One more thing,” Clint corrected. “She likes to be called Skye.”

“You understand this is a lifelong commitment and not just until Skye turns eighteen?” the judge asked Māmā and Andrew when they’d returned from chambers.

“We do,” Melinda and Andrew chorused. Melinda hung on to Skye, who was tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “We want to be her parents.”

“And you intend to give Skye a loving home?” the judge asked.

“We do,” Melinda and Andrew repeated.

“And you understand that you’re legally responsible for Skye’s safety including safety from yourselves? If something happens to this young lady, you’ll be legally responsible.” They nodded agreement.

“Then I’m pleased to I pronounce you, Mary Sue Poots, as Skye Garner-May,” the judge declared.

Māmā and Andrew wrapped her in a tight hug, practically picking her up. Skye was crying, but she wasn’t the only one. Māmā and Andrew were crying too, judging by the wetness on her shoulders. Finally, something that no one could take away from her. She had parents. The court couldn’t take her away this time. 

She turned, a little embarrassed by her tears, but that didn’t seem to matter because everyone else was crying too. Even Hunter was smiling rather wetly as he proudly looked down at her.

Clint hugged her next. While she was almost too old for it, Clint had been declared Skye’s godfather and guardian in case anything were to happen to Māmā or Andrew. “Congratulations, Skye,” Clint whispered softly.

“Thanks,” Skye whispered softly. “... for having my back too. I was afraid…” she looked down, unable to voice her fear that the judge wouldn’t allow the adoption to go through because her training-based injuries. 

“I would have  _ never _ let that happen,” Clint noted with such certainty that Skye actually believed him. Skye nodded.

Nat then came in for a hug. “Quit hogging her, Clint. There’s a line.” Nat playfully gave Clint an annoyed look then looked warmly at Skye. “Congratulations, Pauchok,” she praised tenderly.

“No one’s ever going to take me away again,” Skye announced proudly.

“Not if I can help it,” Nat responded. 

“Of course,” Skye maintained. “We’re family.”

Nat looked like she was about to cry herself for a second, and then it was like nothing had happened. Skye understood why. She’d been there. Family wasn’t just a word to be thrown around. It was precious, and deep, and not that many people had more than one chance at one in their lifetime. Skye’d been sure her chances had been used up and she knew for certain that Nat had felt the same way. It was why, even though Nat had declined being Skye’s godmother officially, Skye’d been determined to prove to her that she was viewed as her godmother in every other way imaginable.

The others all saw it and understood. Skye and Nat had been forged by similar childhoods and were the strongest of all of them. Skye still all but refused to talk about it outside of Dr. Wells’ office and none of her family pressed her on the matter, except to tell people to fuck off. Skye knew that her parents wished that she’d some day open up about it, but she didn’t want to break their hearts. The warning signs were in the looks they got sometimes when they looked at her scars or late at night when they were comforting her after a nightmare.

Skye didn’t let herself think about those things for too long as Hunter stepped in and gripped her tight, picking her up. “Welcome to the family, little luv,” he welcomed, slightly mockingly. “You’re pretty big to be the baby of the family, but I guess we can swing it. You’re the one that brought us together anyways…”

It was true. Though they were rarely in the same room because of the nature of SHIELD, all seven of them were on a fast-paced encrypted family email chain that Skye had started so that they could keep each other up to date with each other’s lives. While they never said anything about it, Skye had noticed Hunter and Bobbi slowly starting to fight less and less as they got into the habit of sharing what they could and letting go the things they couldn’t. If someone was vague about a location or a certain topic, no one accused anyone of keeping information from the rest of them, it was simply the nature of working within SHIELD or the SAS.

On several outings, Skye’d noticed that Hunter and Bobbi were holding hands a lot more often when they walked, almost as if it was now by default. They had been doing it today in the courthouse. 

“Congrats, Skye,” Bobbi lauded as she hugged her tightly. 

“Would you all like a photo?” the judge asked, having stepped down from his seat.

They all agreed, Melinda automatically handing a camera to the bailiff and Skye ended up in the center of their family dog pile with the judge, grinning her head off as her family surrounded her. She didn’t think she’d ever been this happy and she doubted she ever would be again. For the first time in her life, she actually felt full. Full of love and hope and joy. It was nothing like she’d hoped for when she was growing up. It was more.

“Thank you,” Bobbi acknowledged the judge. She turned to Andrew who nodded. “Well gang, let’s go to the zoo.”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Nat noted. “I have a sexual harassment seminar to teach and Clint’s volunteered to assist.”

The adults all grinned, knowing exactly  _ why _ .

“Don’t hurt him too badly,” Bobbi advised.

“I won’t complain,” Melinda affirmed.

“Okay, don’t hurt him so badly you get in trouble,” Bobbi revised.

Nat grinned. “He won’t be able to prove a thing.”

“Fury won’t mind too much anyway,” Clint noted.

“I can’t believe you wanted to go to the zoo of all places,” Hunter teased.

“I like to watch the red pandas,” Skye admitted with a shrug. “They’re so uncoordinated and funny.”

“Maybe we should come to the zoo more often,” Andrew suggested. “Instead of golf on Sundays?”

“I’m up for that,” Skye ressured. “I also like parks. Really any reason to get out. I guess I spend so much time on the computer, I just need an excuse to leave my screens every once in awhile, and I like golf fine.” It was true. They played a full eighteen holes most Sundays and while Skye almost always played well above par, she enjoyed it anyway.

It was a relaxing day at the zoo. Māmā didn’t even comment when Skye got a cotton candy from a vendor with some of her weekly allowance. All three of them kept grinning like mad fools and hugging each other. It was a perfect afternoon, the kind that Skye knew that she’d remember forever. Because no matter what happened from here on in, she had a family - a good one. They weren’t going to beat her or take away her food or… any of the things that people had done to her in the past. Instead, they’d fight for her - with her.

“Dippin’ Dots for your thoughts?” Bobbi asked, offering up a small green and brown ice cream cup. Skye looked at Māmā, who was a little ways a way looking at the Japanese koi, and waited for her to nod her permission before she took it. Skye had a feeling there wasn’t a lot Māmā would say no to today, but she still wanted to ask. She hadn’t talked to Bobbi a lot about her past, but she and Bobbi had had several conversations where they alluded to the past.

“There was… a family that I was placed with,” Skye said in a low voice. “I must have been… six or so? I made the mistake of referring to them as my family. And my foster mom snapped at me that they were burdened with me because I didn’t have a family.”

Bobbi very carefully gave Skye a side hug, projecting her moves as all of her friends had learned to do in the last nine months. “You’re not a burden, you know that, right?” Bobbi asked, assessing Skye carefully.

Skye nodded. “No, I was just… that was the moment I gave up on the idea of having a family. They say that the longer you’re in the system, the harder it is for you to be adopted. Parents… parents usually like to start from scratch when the kid is … undamaged. Dealing with your kid acting out, pushing boundaries… what I’m saying is… is that I know how lucky I am.”

“You know what Natasha says about acting out,” Bobbi teased.

Natasha often noted that people who acted out just lacked an outlet, and Dr. Wells had agreed when Skye had brought up her fear that she would start to. Natasha gave Skye plenty of outlets to work through her problems. Two of her favorites were running the obstacle course at the Ops Academy and sparring with Natasha. According to Natasha, Skye had one of the faster average times Natasha had seen. She wasn’t anywhere near the record, but she was fast enough for Natasha to be impressed.

“Guess I’ll have to make up for it on Saturday when I run the obstacle course again,” Skye chuckled.

“How is Ops training going?” Bobbi asked. 

Skye frowned. “I’m not an agent,” she pointed out.

“Yet,” Bobbi added.

Skye made a noise of protest. “I don’t qualify for Ops. I have no military experience,” she pointed out. “I don’t think Māmā and Andrew would let me either. Besides, I’m only sixteen.”

“Right, so you won’t be an agent yet, but once you turn eighteen you could sign up. Fury might even waive some of the training.”

“Why would he do that?” Skye asked.

Bobbi snorted. “You train with Natasha Romanov and you haven’t died. She even made a comment to me about how she hasn’t been holding back nearly as much lately. You’re improving your ninja skills. And with your hacker skills… Fury’s sure to want to use you in the field.”

“Stop pressuring her, Bob,” Hunter argued with a grin. “Today’s a day for celebration, not planning how to groom her into one of your super agents in the future.”

Bobbi gave a dry laugh. “We don’t have super agents. There’s no such thing as super powers.”

“Wouldn’t it be great if there was though? Hunter asked. “I mean, the closest we ever got was Steve Rogers, and we haven’t had anyone since he died in 1945.”

“What, you’d want to be enhanced?” Bobbi asked, unimpressed.

“Captain Britain. That sounds like a good name,” Hunter cheeked. “What do you think, Skye? If you could have powers, what would they be?”

“I don’t need superpowers,” Skye observed happily. “I’ve got my miracle. I don’t need another one.”

“You don’t know how glad we all are that you found your way to Clint’s apartment that day,” Bobbi remembered. “You’re a miracle to us too. Hell, you taught Hunter that sometimes I keep secrets for a good reason.”

“As much as I hate the idea of secrets,” Hunter admitted begrudgingly. “She’s right. It was the first time she ever told me one of the secrets that she’s been keeping. I suppose you’re not such a bad secret to have kept from me. I’m glad I was told though. I’m glad to be part of your life.”

Though Skye had been kept busy prior to her graduation, Hunter or Bobbi had tried to take Skye out every other week and let her be a teenager without the baggage of her past or her future. After she graduated, the trips gained some frequency since she had more free time. They’d take her out for food or treats that Māmā and Andrew wouldn’t give her like cupcakes, baseball games, or paddle boating in the basin. Hunter even once got tickets to a ‘British Invasion’ event at the British Embassy. 

While she was still a little nervous around Clint and Hunter, she found that she had a lot in common with both of them. Hunter liked things straightforward and honest, while Clint had a hard time trusting people because he’d had a rough childhood. Both understood her in ways the others couldn’t. Skye suspected that was why Andrew and Māmā let her hang out with them so often. She knew, more than anyone could understand, beyond words, even, how lucky she was to have landed in Māmā’s and Andrew’s arms.

They moved on to stroll around the zoo, Bobbi, Hunter, and Skye chatting quietly, talking about other plans they had. Eventually, the sun started setting and it started getting cold.

“Come on,” Andrew spurred. “Our reservations are in half an hour and the zoo’s closing anyway.”

“Okay, fine,” Skye conceded, smiling good-naturedly. Then her smile fell. “Do… you think this is okay for the restaurant?” she asked. Māmā had had her dress up for court, and she’d been surprised to see the others had too. Natasha and Māmā had even worn dresses, which she’d never seen happen before.

Skye had gotten a little nervous when she saw how nice the restaurant was, but Māmā seemed to sense it automatically. “You’ll be fine, Skye. You look fine.”

“Thanks, Māmā,” Skye murmured softly.

“Any time, daughter.”

After Clint and Nat joined them and everyone ordered drinks and starters, everyone glanced between each other, then looked at Skye.

“What?” Skye asked. Curious to what she was missing. “Well, I know you didn’t want anything for Graduation, but… Adoption is a little something like a Birthday. So we wanted to get you combination Graduation and Adoption gifts.”

“You didn’t have to…” Skye started.

“We know we didn’t,” Clint told her, cutting her off. “But we wanted to.”

Andrew passed her an envelope. Skye eyed it like it was a bomb and took it, opening it suspiciously. “Tickets?” Skye queried. “... to Beijing?” She started getting both excited and overwhelmed. The tickets must have cost a fortune.

“Andrew and I always talk about taking actual vacations,” Māmā explained. “This gives us an excuse.”

“We decided next year, we’re going to Hawaii,” Andrew expounded. “But this first trip we wanted to give you the chance to visit your homeland.”

“Hunan? We’re going to Hunan?” Skye was stunned. She never really expected to be going… home.

“Four days in Hengyang, four days in Changsha, and four days in Beijing,” Māmā agreed, nodding. Hengyang had been the closest major city near to where she’d been found. It was close enough that they could rent a car and go see it, if Skye wanted to. Skye wasn’t sure if she did. She did have enough Mandarin between Māmā, wàigōng, and Natasha to be semi-conversational. Certainly enough to be able to ask for directions.

“And you’re gonna need this.” Bobbi told Skye. “It’s from me and Hunter.” She passed over a bag. Skye opened it and found a camera bag with a DSLR and a zoom lens. “What?” Skye asked, her eyes wide in shock.

“Well, you have to take photos of your vacation so that you can show us when you get back,” Hunter instructed her with a smile. “You’ve taken enough photos that I think it warrants a camera of your own.”

“And this,” Clint added, passing over another bag, “is from Fury, Coulson, Nat and I.” It was a large gift bag. Skye opened the bag and lifted a full black backpack out. 

“Company-grade,” Natasha described, and Skye knew she meant SHIELD. “GPS dot sewn in the lining, lock-pick kit, swiss army knife, RFID blocking wallet, a water bottle, water purification tablets, MREs, survival blanket, flint and steel, and space for a change of clothes. Good for trips or for…” Missions, Skye knew.

“It’s …” Skye found she couldn’t speak, choked up by being overwhelmingly moved. She felt frozen, unable to even wipe the tears away from her eyes. Bobbi was the closest and she immediately reached over and hugged Skye tightly. Māmā was on her other side. They held her, blocking her from view from the others until Skye calmed down. “Thank you,” Skye said softly. “Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome, Skye,” Clint reassured her, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

Once they finished dinner and dessert, Māmā and Andrew brought Skye home. Tired, they all got home very late. After changing and brushing her teeth, Skye went to bed. She was dozing when she heard Māmā and Andrew come in. They hadn’t really been in  her room so late once Skye had recovered from the flu.

“Good night, baby girl,” Māmā whispered, stroking her hair.

“Sleep well,” Andrew mur softly, pulling the covers over Skye.

“Night Māmā. Night Dad,” Skye breathed. Though when she woke up again in the morning, she pretended she didn’t remember anything at all.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye goes on a date, and celebrates Thanksgiving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! I'm sorry that I haven't been posting. My paying job has been keeping me pretty busy. 
> 
> Now here's the chapter

Skye was kept even busier in the next month. She got her learner’s permit, and Andrew, Clint, and Māmā were spending time teaching her how to drive. Nat was going to teach her how to drive defensively during on one of the SHIELD driving courses at the Operations Academy, but Andrew had pointed out that there were some things Skye should experience for the first time like a normal teenager, and the right of passage. Natasha promised that she’d hold off on the defensive driving lessons until  _ after _ Skye got her license. Skye agreed, but only if Andrew and Māmā promised  _ not  _ to buy her a car. She was probably the only teenager who asked her parents not to buy her a car, but they had just given her a trip to China.

She did spend some mornings at SciTech academy. On days that she had therapy sessions, Andrew picked her up and let her drive to give her practice hours. On days that she didn’t, either Andrew or May or one of their friends who was trusted enough to know where they lived came and got her. Her favorite were the afternoons that Clint picked her up, as they spent all afternoon driving through various parts of Maryland and Virginia, talking about nothing in particular. They’d go for ice cream or cupcakes or, on one occasion, they drove all the way to Philadelphia to Pat’s King of Steaks for cheesesteaks. On afternoons she didn’t go driving, she socialized some with Fitz and Simmons, or spent time with the other hackers. Jo was in her final months at the academy and would be leaving for The Hub soon, so Skye spent more time hanging out with her.

“You excited to be an agent?” Skye asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Jo hesitated, smiling slightly. “It’s weird though. When you’re a hacker you have nothing. And I was fine with that life… but now…”

“There’s culture shock, that’s for sure,” Skye agreed.

“How are you adjusting to the adoption?” Jo asked. The cadets at SciTech knew she’d been adopted, but not who. There was a rumor currently going around that Fury had adopted her, which was actually kind of funny.

“Not bad,” Skye shrugged. “It’s… weird.”

“I imagine having parents for the first time is a different experience.”

“It’s not just that,” Skye admitted quietly. “It’s… This is the longest I’ve been in one place in my life. It’s… different.” Truth be told, Skye still had days where she felt like the other shoe was going to drop, but she and Dr. Wells were slowly working through that. She knew on some level that Māmā and Andrew would always love her. In fact, she wasn’t really sure what to call Andrew. He wasn’t really ‘Andrew’ any more, especially after her bout of the flu. Even after her fever had come down some, she’d been ridiculously sick and needed help with almost everything. After all that, just calling him ‘Andrew’ didn’t seem enough. But he wasn’t ‘Dad’ either. Both Dr. Wells as well as Andrew assured her that it was normal for things like that to shift. Andrew also said that he didn’t love her any less because she called Melinda ‘Māmā’ while she still struggled to call him ‘Dad.’

“You’re here to stay,” Jo reassured her with a smirk, bringing Skye out of her thoughts. “Fury doesn’t let go of talented agents so easy.”

“You really think I’ll make a good agent?” Skye asked. 

“You’re a better hacker than me, Skye,” Jo pointed out. “I can’t say it about a lot of people.”

“I do okay,” Skye granted softly, blushing.

“What are you coming as to the Halloween party?” Jo asked her.

“I don’t think I’m going,” Skye denied. “Halloween isn’t really my thing.”

“Getting to pretend to be someone else for a night?” Jo asked, curious but not malicious about it. “Why not?”

Skye shrugged. “I never really went…” Skye confessed.

“Never?” Jo asked, shocked.

Skye shrugged. “When I was little, I was always in homes that were overcrowded. They couldn’t take us all, so none of us went.” Skye said nothing about when she was older, and Jo didn’t press her.

Instead, she approached her with open arms. “Can I hug you?” Jo asked carefully.

Skye nodded. People seemed to do that a lot with her, but she only let her female friends - and all her family - do it. It seemed to make them feel better, though it didn’t usually have the same effect on her. Except for when Māmā got ahold of her and held her close. It was the only time she ever really truly felt safe, though she never would admit that out loud.

This reaction was why she preferred to hang out with Nat and Clint and Bobbi and Hunter. Nat barely batted an eye when she commented on her experiences growing up. While Nat’s childhood was different from her own, they understood each other in ways that no one else ever had. Skye still had trouble letting men touch her, but Clint would sit with her, squeeze her hand, and tell funny jokes. She valued her friendship with him and often wondered how she could ever repay him for befriending someone half his age. 

Clint, it turned out, grew up with only his father and his brother, in poverty. He was the only person who had any idea what not knowing where he came from was like. His mother died when he was very young and his father had been so heartbroken he’d never talked about her. Clint shared one afternoon when they had been driving to Ocean City for ice cream, that he’d always felt there was a part of him that was missing. Skye had simply nodded in solidarity. Clint also shared that his father had turned to alcohol and had died in a car crash when Clint was fifteen. 

Jo nodded once she released Skye. “We’ll have to get you a really good costume this year. What do you want to be?” 

Skye shrugged. “Everything I ever wanted to be, I already am,” she permitted quietly. “Though…”

“What is it?” Jo asked.

“Growing up there was this nun at the orphanage. She was a huge fan of Captain America… I think one of her parents was saved by him or something. She used to say, ‘Always be yourself. Unless you can be Captain America. Then be Captain America.’”

Jo considered it, taking a step back, evaluating. “Amy sews her own clothes,” she noted, referring to a second year Comms Cadet who was teaching Skye Fortran. “I bet she could make you something. And I’m fairly sure your friend Fitz would chew off his own arm if it helped you out.”

Skye blushed. “He would not,” she disagreed.

“Do you like him?” Jo asked curiously.

“I…” Skye stopped herself, considering her answer before answering it. “I don’t know,” she admitted truthfully.

“Do you want to find out?”

“I don’t know,” Skye hedged tentatively. “He’s nice.”

Jo nodded. “You know that happens right? That’s why people date. To figure out how they feel.” Skye remained silent, thinking hard. “Look at it this way, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“I don't…” Skye stopped herself. No date she was going to go on was ever going to make her feel comfortable. Apart from Andrew, Clint, and Hunter, Fitz was probably the man she trusted most. She knew that he wouldn’t hurt her. “Okay,” she relented, nodding slowly. 

Fitz found her a few days later, just before she was due to go to the Triskellion for training. “Say, um, Skye…” Fitz stammered. “I was wondering…  I mean, you don’t have to…” Fitz stammered. “If… you’d like to go with me to the Halloween party? I mean, I could totally understand if you didn’t want to. I know you have a past with… you know… not that it’s any of my business. I just noticed…”

Skye wanted to say no, but stopped herself, remembering Jo’s advice. “Sure. That’d be fun.”

Fitz’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Skye agreed with a soft smile. “It’ll be fun.”

Growing up, she was usually in a foster home around Halloween, but most of the time her foster parents had told her there wasn’t enough money to buy her a costume. The nuns hated the holiday and every year she was at the orphanage, Skye spent it in Mass. 

The second her parents learned about this, they went all out on her costume, even though Skye’d tried to talk them out of it. Māmā had insisted on taking her shopping for one of the store-bought costumes in a big box store that she’d always wanted. Fitz went all out, too, on a Bucky Barnes costume, though he had a slightly smaller budget. 

Thankfully, Fitz was happy to keep things casual, so they were meeting there. In all honesty, the night didn’t go as horribly as Skye pictured it going. Skye won two awards (best costume and best couples costumes). Her costume was pretty cool. It was a long sleeved, bright blue leotard with a white and red skirt that went to the middle of her thigh, a star-spangled headband, brown boots; a Captain America shield, a compass, and a leather jacket.

Everyone thought they were adorable and kept commenting about it. Skye blushed every time.

It had also been a lot of fun to hang out with all of her friends. It made Skye a little sad to think about the fact that she didn’t know when the next time she was going to see Jo again would be. Jo was going to be working on the HC-64 project full-time and from the description it seemed like it was going to be a lot of long days.

At the end of the party, Skye and Fitz took a stroll in the Quad.

“Look,” Fitz started. Skye tensed ever so slightly. “I… I had a really good time. But I…. I’m sorry Skye. I don’t think....” All the tension rushed out of Skye and she started laughing. Fitz blushed bright red. “I… I mean.”

“It’s okay,” Skye giggled. She felt a wash of relief. “I feel the same way.”

“I mean, I thought I liked you, and I was having a good time…” Fitz explained. “But then I pictured kissing you and it was a bit like picturing meself kiss me sister.”

“You have a sister?” Skye asked curiously.

“I do now,” Fitz blushed. It was then Skye’s turn to blush. 

“Jo suggested that it would be good just to get out there and get the practice,” Skye noted quietly. “She said even if this didn’t work out, then at least I’d have the experience. And that maybe next time might be…”

“Easier?” Fitz suggested. Skye nodded. “Well in that case since neither of us really see the other in a romantic way, would you like to go out with me again some time?” Skye regarded Fitz oddly. “I just mean… maybe you could use a friend to practice on. So when you do find someone you see a future with, it’s not so scary.”

Skye stared at Fitz. “How’d you know…”

Fitz shrugged. “My da… my da wasn’t a good man. He never did anything… I just mean that I know enough to recognize it. It took me a while before I trusted people again. I had to practice to get good at it. I’m still n’t all that good at it.”

“I don’t know, you’re pretty good from my perspective,” Skye laughed. “Certainly a lot better than me.” Skye saw headlights in the parking lot, and spotted Māmā.

“That’s my ride,” Skye noted. “I had a really good time tonight. Thank you for asking me.”

“I did too,” Fitz admitted. “Despite everything.”

Feeling impulsive, Skye lunged forward and hugged Fitz. Fitz froze for a moment in shock, then hugged Skye back. “I’ll talk to you soon?” Skye asked. 

“You’re coming in Wednesday to work on that project that the CS cadets and the Comms cadets are working on, right?” Fitz asked.

Skye nodded. “Yeah,” she breathed. 

“Great, I’ll see you then,” Fitz grinned.

Skye walked to the car and got in the passenger seat. “How was it?” Māmā asked.

“I didn’t freak out,” Skye breathed. “No panic attacks.”

“Well that’s a success in my book,” Māmā preened, sounding extremely pleased. “Are you going to go out again?”

“We are, but just as practice.” 

That caused Māmā to pause for a second before she started up the car. “Practice?” she asked.

“We’re better as friends,” Skye explained. “No ‘sparks’... but both of us are kinda….” she paused, considering an appropriate word. Māmā let her without interrupting. Māmā was good at that. “Awkward… around the opposite sex. I can’t really practice with… Dad… or Clint or Hunter with stuff like this…”

“So you’re going to practice dating with Leo?” Māmā asked.

Skye blushed. “Yeah… it sounds dumb now that I say it out loud.”

“No. I think it’s a great idea,” Māmā praised softly. She glanced over and spotted Skye’s face. “Seriously. If you still feel like it’s stupid you should talk to Dr. Wells about it. It’s what she’s there for.” Māmā paused. “As opposed to me, who’s supposed to embarrass the hell out of you while you’re still young.”

Skye cracked a smile. Witty banter with Māmā was easy. “I thought we agreed to skipping that part of my childhood.”

Māmā grinned too. “Sorry, dumpling, you’re not escaping it that easily. We’re trying to give you as much normality as possible. That includes driving lessons, embarrassing parents who spoil you from time to time, chores, and family vacations.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “Dumpling? Really?”

“Stupid family nicknames is part of the deal,” Māmā grinned.

“Ugh,” Skye groaned. “Do I have to?”

“Admit it, you totally love it,” Māmā teased.

“Yeah,” Skye agreed softly. “I do. I know it’s kinda silly but…” Skye had trouble finding the right words. 

“I know, kid,” Māmā acknowledged. “Me too.”

It didn’t take long before Māmā was pulling into the driveway. “Home again,” Māmā sang happily.

“Thanks for driving me,” Skye hummed, starting to feel less uncertain.

After several conversations with her parents, they’d given up trying to convince her that she didn’t have to thank them for driving her places or doing things that parents always did for their kids. “You’re welcome, Skye,” Māmā pressed.

Once inside, Skye saw that Andrew was also awake. “Hey Skye,” Andrew greeted.

“Hey Dad,” Skye returned with a proud smile. She hadn’t even hesitated saying it.

“How was your date?” he asked.

“No panic attacks,” Skye reported. “We’re not right for each other, but we think we’re going to go on practice dates so both of us can get more comfortable with dating.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Andrew approved, nodding. “It’s actually a common therapy tool that can sometimes be suggested. Spending time with friends of the opposite gender helps some people with certain anxiety disorders and various other traumas.”

“So it’s not weird?” Skye asked.

“Not at all,” Andrew stated reassuringly. “But you had a good time?”

Skys nodded. “The chem cadets were in charge of decorations so they set up some huge bunsen burners with some saltpeter and sulfate…”

“Translate for us mortals?” Andrew asked teasingly.

“Saltpeter burns violet, sulfate burns black,” Skye said. “The chem students were a little upset they weren’t allowed to be put in charge of drinks too, but drinks has been the CS cadets’ domain for forever so…”

“Cadets in general are always a little over-enthusiastic for my taste anyway,” Māmā said with a grin. “So eager to please. Eager to prove themselves.”

“But so much fun,” Skye laughed.

As November slowly passed, Skye couldn’t help but be reminded that it had been almost a year since she’d been found. The courts had ruled in their favor that they were allowed to legally change Skye’s birthdate. It was a guess to begin with and Skye had a sneaking suspicion that the judge agreed mostly out of guilt. So instead of her being “born” on April 15th, 1989, her birthday had been moved to January 20th, 1989 - the day that she’d decided to climb through Clint’s window and inadvertently change her entire life. 

For the first time in her entire life, Skye was happy. Not even Māmā having to work Thanksgiving weekend could dampen her mood. She was working the holiday because the entire family was going to be gone for Christmas AND New Years, so while Skye was a little sad to be apart on the familial-based holiday (her first official one), it would be worth it.

wàigōng also wasn’t there - he was going with them to China, so he had taken the time to go see friends in Phoenix that weekend. wàigōng had secretly shared with Skye that he was rather excited to have a granddaughter he could brag about to his friends, though this made Skye blush furiously. She was used to this side of wàigōng though. Skye relied a lot on gut instinct and she could tell that he definitely just loved being a grandfather. 

Thankfully, over the last year, Skye'd grown comfortable with being alone around Andrew and she was actually looking forward to a Thanksgiving just the two of them. Unfortunately, Andrew got a call two days before. Skye walked in halfway through the conversation. “... look, I'm telling you… of course I'm going to ask her but… because, everyone is in town this weekend and that’s 50 people that she’s never met before. I'm just warning you she probably won't… she just walked in. You want me to ask her?” Andrew looked at the phone in frustration and hit the mute button. 

He turned to Skye. “Sorry about this, but a family emergency meeting was called and my mother has strong-armed me into coming. She wants me to ask you if you'd like to come too.” Skye stiffened. “You in no way have to.” Skye shifted nervously. “Seriously Skye, I know this stuff makes you uncomfortable. You deserve a holiday without discomfort. If I could get out of this one, I would, but my family has sort of expected that I can come help out with family conflict at the drop of a hat. I'm gonna be sure to let them know this is the last time.”

Skye looked down. “I mean, if you want to go…”

“I honestly would rather stay here…”

“Where will I…” Skye started, then blushed. “I mean…”

“You want to see what Natasha’s plans are?”

Skye nodded, pulled out her phone and started typing rapidly. Andrew unmuted the phone. “I'll be coming out alone, Mom… no, I didn't coach her.” Andrew sighed heavily, pinching his nose. Skye knew this was a sure sign Andrew was annoyed. “I'll see you tomorrow, mother. Goodbye.”

“They miss you,” Skye observed. 

“They do,” Andrew affirmed. “They mean well, they just don't listen.”

“They can't understand,” Skye noted, responding to Natasha’s text at the same time. “They haven't seen the panic attacks or the nightmares. All they see is a grandchild who doesn't want to know them.”

Skye had offered to email with Andrew’s family, but emails  came few and far between from the adults. She answered any email that they sent fairly quickly, and she was becoming friends with her same-age cousins who were better about texting or emailing her rather than calling, but the adults clearly wanted her to meet them on a level they were comfortable with, a level Skye wasn't ready for. 

“That's not your responsibility,” Andrew comforted her, working on his computer to book airline tickets.

Skye nodded. “I know. But that's how they feel. You can't control how people feel.” It was something Dr. Wells had drilled into her when she'd first actually started talking about her problems in therapy. Before SHIELD, Skye's interactions with people were either very good or very bad. She didn't understand Jemma’s rage against Jackson, the cadet who'd tried to put hands on her, for example. Dr. Wells had carefully taught her that Jemma’s feelings were hers and hers alone. Skye had no control over them. 

Andrew smiled bittersweetly. “I  _ am _ sorry that we're not going to be together for Thanksgiving,” he noted. “You, Melinda, and I will have to do a make up next weekend.”

Skye perked up at that. “Yeah?” she asked. 

Andrew nodded. “Thanksgiving is about family. We don't need to confine our celebration to one stupid day.”

“Sounds good to me,” Skye agreed. “Nat says she can't tell us where I'd be going, but I'm free to come with her if I want.”

Andrew nodded. “My ticket’s booked for tomorrow morning at 5am, which means I'd be getting up before 3. Do you want to sleep over at Nat’s tonight?”

Skye bit her lip. She normally went to bed around 2, so getting up that early would seriously suck, but she still wanted to spend time with her Dad.

Andrew, as usual, instinctively knew that source of Skye’s hesitation. “How about this, I'll call Nat and invite her over for dinner. After dinner the three of us can have some popcorn and watch a movie, then you can go with Nat and spend the night at her place.”

And so they did. Skye packed a bag for the weekend, and was a little nervous to leave with Natasha, but at the same time excited. This was exactly what Dr. Wells had talked about. Pushing her boundaries. She trusted Natasha and she trusted Clint. That had to be enough for now. Natasha lived on the SHIELD base in a dorm-style room. She had obtained a cot, which Skye’d been more than willing to take, but Natasha had insisted on giving her the bed.

It was almost like a sleepover. In the morning, Clint and Nat were there when she woke up. “What’s going on?” she asked, when she spotted them talking to each other.

“We need you to keep a secret,” Clint cautioned slowly. “This isn’t a SHIELD secret, this is… this is something you can’t even tell May or Garner.”

Skye hesitated. “I shouldn’t. I don’t want to keep anything from them…”

“It’s nothing bad Skye, but if people know, someone’s life would be in danger,” Natasha implored her gently.

“My wife,” Clint explained barely above a whisper. “No one here knows about her. She's pregnant. I can’t-”

“I won’t say anything,” Skye declared quickly. “I promise. Is that where you guys are taking me for Thanksgiving?”

Clint smiled “Yeah. I can tell you more about them in the car. It’s a fifteen hour drive.”

Skye was glad that she’d been trained to entertain herself as Clint and Natasha drove. She sometimes watched the scenery outside, but mostly slept or read. Clint and Natasha would talk with her some, but all three of them had an appreciation of silence, so apart from Clint telling Skye about his wife Laura, the car was comfortably quiet.

By the time they arrived at the farmhouse that Clint had described, It was well past dinner time, and Skye was exhausted and hungry. 

Laura, who looked exactly like the type of woman Clint would marry, came out to greet them. “Hello husband,” Laura greeted Clint, kissing him. “And Nat,” Laura added, hugging the woman. Laura then turned to Skye. “You must be Skye. I’m glad to finally meet you.”

“Finally?” Skye asked curiously.

“Well, a year ago, January, Clint comes home and talks about how he found you. I’m told you enjoyed my soups.”

Suddenly, a lot of Clint’s behaviors in the first months of her living with Māmā and Dad made a lot more sense. While Coulson eased off on wanting to see Skye once he was reassured that she was okay, Clint had taken extra care to very slowly and carefully cultivate a relationship with her. Though Coulson’s distance probably had more to do with the fact that SHIELD kept Coulson extremely busy than it being something personal. Coulson was Clint’s and Natasha’s SO, so from what Skye had heard, he had a lot more paperwork.

The case of homemade soups, specifically, had been out character for Clint. As someone who looked like he had few skills apart from out in the field (judging by the state of his apartment and the trend for him to consistently order take out), the homemade soups were uncharacteristically domestic.

“Okay, so the soups Clint brought me make much more sense now…” Skye realized slowly. “I assume you made those?” Laura nodded. “They were delicious.”

“Thank you,” Laura acknowledged. “We’re pretty self-sustaining here. Or as self-sustaining as we can be on 25 acres. We grow enough produce that we’re at the farmer’s market in Omaha every Saturday and we have a dairy cow, couple pigs, egg hens, most of what we don’t have we can trade with other farmers in the area, though we still have supplies that need to be bought, just not as frequently.”

“So when Clint said they were homemade, he wasn’t kidding,” Skye noted.

“Farm-fresh is better for people,” Laura determined firmly. “I studied it in school, got my bachelor’s in Dietetics with a concentration in Botany. Enough about me, you all must be starved. I made chili.”

Skye still was on the thin side, so was goaded into eating by Clint and Natasha’s silent prodding.

Laura seemed in on the act too, since she had served Skye an extra big helping of chili over Fritos. Skye had never had the combination, but she really liked it.

Full of homemade, warm food, Skye began falling asleep again and was shuffled off to bed. 

The farmhouse was alive with activity when Skye woke up the next morning. She had texted Andrew briefly that they had safely arrived the night before, so she texted him this morning to check in. He sounded stressed, the way he had after his parents had visited. He told her not to worry about it though, that it was just his family.

“Morning Skye,” Nat said, as Skye blinked blearily at the three of them. Natasha set down a plate in small area of the kitchen island that was clean. Pretty much every other inch of it was covered in food ingredients. Skye was shocked. She’d never seen so much fresh food in her life. Skye stared curiously at them as she ate the bilinis and jam. Natasha had made bilinis for Skye before; the jam was likely made by Laura.

Skye dug in as she watched Laura peeling something that looked like a potato, except for the fact that it was orange. “What’s that?” Skye finally asked.

“These are yams,” Laura nodded. “Sweet potatoes. It’s a root vegetable with the same consistency as a white potato. We candy them with brown sugar on Thanksgiving.”

“There are different types of potato?” Skye asked curiously. They honestly didn’t cook with potato that much at the Garner-May residence. “I mean, there’s more than just the powdered stuff they’d fed us at the orphanage?” Clint must have told Laura a lot, because Laura didn’t react to this.

“Lots,” Clint offered. “Idaho, Russet, Gold, Red, Fingerling…”

“Wow,” Skye marveled. “That’s… a lot…”

“Each of them cooks different and tastes different,” Laura expanded. “For today, we’re going to be using Russet and Jewel yams, which are like sweet potatoes. So we’ve got three pounds of candied sweet potato, five pounds of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, spaghetti squash mac and cheese, turkey, stuffing and dressing, and three types of pie.”

“That’s a lot of food,” Skye gaped, awed by the idea of that much food.

“That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, eating until you could burst,” Clint told her with a grin.

After Skye finished breakfast, she was taught how to prep several side dishes.They watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on TV as they worked on dinner; Skye softly shared a story about sneaking out one year and seeing it in person. Natasha in turn shared the story of her first Thanksgiving in America. Skye was encouraged to taste everything while they worked, which exposed her to flavors that were familiar, but so much richer. It was clear that the same dishes that she’d been given in her childhood were just cheaper versions of the real thing. 

When dinner was all prepped and the cooking was all that was left, Laura kicked them all out of the room and they watched part of a football game. Skye had seen football on TV before, but had never understood the game. Clint was careful to explain each part of the game, the different positions people played, and gave a running commentary about his favorites. Skye didn’t have much interest in it, but Clint was clearly passionate about the game, and it was nice to see a whole different side to Clint. 

After eating one of the most delicious American meals Skye had ever eaten, they all took naps. After that, they watched comedies and and ate popcorn. By the end of the day, Skye had completely forgotten what she’d initially felt about going to Clint’s family home for Thanksgiving without either of her parents. There’d been so many unknowns. Some irrational part of her thought Laura would dislike her, but she had trusted Clint and Natasha, taken a risk, and as it turned out Laura was kind and fun and  _ wonderful _ . She seemed to thrive on mothering people. Skye could see that she did it to everyone, including probably the customers of her stall at the farmer’s market.

The next morning was a relaxing one. Everyone in the Comms department was off for the weekend, so she hadn’t stayed up the night before. Skye came into the kitchen and saw a steaming large casserole dish filled with some kind of egg-based dish. Laura, Clint, and Natasha were all sitting around the kitchen island, talking softly. 

“Morning Skye,” Laura greeted warmly, setting down a mug of coffee in front of an empty stool on the island. Laura didn’t really like the fact that Skye drank coffee, but Clint knew that Melinda and Andrew allowed it because it was better than her being addicted to soda, so Laura let it slide. 

“Morning,” Skye grumbled, sitting down, taking a big gulp of coffee. “So no one at SHIELD really knows about this place?” 

“Fury set it up,” Clint explained, nodding. “He and Coulson know, but no one else.”

“Fury was thinking about sending me here,” Skye realized quietly. “Wasn’t he?”

Laura nodded. “It was one of the options being considered. We thought it would be kind of unfair to you though. Living in the middle of nowhere can be…”

“Boring?” Clint suggested with a smile. “Laura has farm work to keep her busy year round, but for someone like you who’s used to New York City? We didn’t think you’d be happy, stuck here all the time.”

“But you still trust me with your secret,” Skye noted.

“Yeah,” Clint agreed. “You’re part of my family. Just because you’re not legally mine doesn’t mean I don’t love this whole brother/sister dynamic we’ve got going.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone about this - even Dad and Māmā. But I hope that at some point I can come back here. This is nice….”

“We’d love to have you,” Laura told her warmly.

“I want to redo the deck,” Clint mentioned. “Laura, is there anything else you want to do on the outside of the house before I redo the kitchen?”

Laura rolled her eyes and smiled good naturedly. “We bought this house in 1992. It was originally built in 1875 and was a little… run-down.”

“It was barely liveable,” Clint explained. “When I’m not on a mission, I’m usually working on this house. I’ve redone the plumbing and the flooring and the landscaping immediately surrounding the house.”

“Occasionally I help,” Natasha added. “Clint is correct - sometimes it’s good to knock down walls. Changing things in a house is a lot easier than changing things in the world.”

Skye nodded. “I can understand that,” she agreed. She looked down at the casserole dish again. “What’s this?” 

“Egg bake,” Laura reported. She smiled at Skye’s blank face. “Egg bake is like… a combination of scrambled eggs and an omelette. It’s scrambled eggs, but you put stuff in it. This one has bacon, red onions, mushrooms, and cheddar.” 

Skye took a somewhat hesitant bite and found that it was delicious. 

“Good, right?” Clint asked. Skye nodded vigorously before digging in.

“I think we’re going into town today, right?” Natasha asked. “The harvest festival?”

“What’s the harvest festival?” Skye asked.

“Two day long thing in town,” Clint explained. “Today, most people who sell things will have booths or their stores open in the town center. Basically a centralized place for people to do all their Christmas shopping.”

“The town’s so small that we don’t even have a Walmart,” Laura added. “It’s mostly just mom and pop places that have been open pretty much since the town was founded. We have a family booth there and I’ll be selling preserves, homemade breads, and pickles.”

“We can always go for a few hours and then I can retrieve Laura tonight when the festival ends,” Clint offered, sensing Skye’s nerves. 

“Okay,” Skye agreed.

It was a fifteen minute drive into town. Laura had lined the truck bed with blankets and Skye and Natasha climbed in the back. Between the down coat that she had brought, and two extra layers of clothing that Laura provided, Skye was perfectly warm, despite being in the open air in November. 

Skye was shocked by the size of what the local ‘town’ was. The shopping area was a block long and there was a General Store, like something right out of the old Westerns that her family watched sometimes on Friday nights.

The road was closed off to cars and instead people had worn, wooden booths in the street. Skye saw flowers, an apple cider stand, popcorn, a hayride, games like ring toss and something called corn hole, a couple food booths, a bakery… she’d never seen anything like it. “You can’t imagine how odd this place was for me.” Natasha remembered, seeing Skye take everything. “This was everything I was trained to hate when I was in the Red Room.”

“What happened?” Skye asked.

“After the Red Room, I did some merc work. Made a lot of very short lists. Everyone wanted to either execute me or turn me, but after the Red Room, I wasn’t interested in all that. Clint was sent to take me out. He took one look at me and decided to save me instead. So he knocked me out and took me in. After a few hours, he convinced me that I should work for SHIELD rather than keep running from the Red Room.”

“And then he brought you here?”

Natasha nodded. “Fury thought he was crazy, but as a former merc, Clint knew… Clint knew I needed to figure out what normal was. This was a good place to clear my head.”

“Clint wasn’t worried about Laura?” 

Natasha laughed a little. “Laura can handle herself. Her dad was a marine and she grew up around here. She was a better hunter than any other kid her age when she was in High School. Clint didn’t leave me alone with her for a few months, but Laura can definitely handle herself.”

Skye laughed a little. “Yeah, she strikes me as the Mama bear type,” she noted. She had a brief image of herself being raised by Clint and Laura out here. It struck her that if she had been adopted by them, Skye’d be a lot more sheltered. Skye was suddenly really thankful for the hours of Ops training Melinda had sort-of manipulated her into. In retrospect it empowered her far more than anything else would, she suspected. A year ago, even a crowd this small would have her on edge, but Skye now knew how to handle herself and also how to trust Clint and Natasha to help her if she needed it. Natasha had also been right in her initial assessment that her hyperawareness had never gone away, but Natasha had taught her how to hone it. It made her a better agent.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving and Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for being away for so long. I've been dealing with some personal health issues that have left me unmotivated to post or write (ASP is done, so it really wasn't much of a thing to put it up, and yet...). Anyway, hopefully my dealing with my health has turned a corner for the better as I've started to feel like posting again!
> 
> Thanks as always to LadyWinterlight for being a wonderful beta and generally awesome friend.

Andrew was decidedly annoyed. He came out to the family Thanksgiving, thinking that the family meeting was due to something serious - a medical diagnosis, or some huge emergency like his parents were getting divorced. It turned out that it was because his niece had gotten a tattoo at 18 and no one was happy. Andrew tried his best to mediate over the holiday, but found himself taking Chloe’s side. 

Andrew’s mom bitingly asked him what he’d do if Skye got a tattoo and Andrew had to think about it for a moment. Honestly, it would depend on the situation. Chloe had spent her own money on the ink and had thought about it for a long time to be sure about the design. It wasn’t as if she’d gotten drunk and used her emergency credit card for the purchase or something equally irresponsible.

“Skye is grown up enough to make her own choices about her body. She doesn’t need judgement from me, just love.” Andrew had answered patiently. None of his siblings had really liked the answer, but he did notice his father looking at him with a good deal of respect.

With nothing concluded, his mom wrapped up the meeting. “I actually have something to talk about,” Andrew spoke up before anyone could disperse. Everyone froze. Andrew never had conflict to address. “This is the last time I'm going to come out here like this.” This caused a cacophony of objections, mostly from his parents’ generation. His siblings, at least, were waiting for an explanation. “I have a daughter now. I can't drop everything to come cross-country to be your mediator, especially around the holidays. I'm missing my daughter’s first Thanksgiving because of a silly conflict. You didn’t really need me here.”

“She was invited,” his mom sniffed. “Skye’s always welcome here.”

Andrew opened his mouth but was surprised that Chloe beat him to it. “She couldn't have come,” Chloe argued. Everyone stared. Chloe shrugged. “What? We talk all the time. She's cool. Really funny.”

“She talks to you?” Andrew’s sister, Bernice, asked in shock. 

“She talks to all of us,” Steven, Bernice’s son, explained. “Chloe’s right. She’s cool. Just super shy.”

“She's used to family being unpredictable,” Sarah noted quietly. “She’s still getting used to Auntie Mel and Uncle Drew. Large groups don’t feel safe to her.”

His mother looked, shocked, at her grandchildren. “Skye talks to all of you? Why won’t she talk to us then?”

All the kids shrugged, clearly unsure, so Andrew stepped in. “They don’t expect her to call them and talk about herself,” Andrew noted. “They treat her like she’s any normal teenager.”

“She knows the  _ best _ places to go thrift store shopping in Manhattan,” Sarah, who was Skye’s age and wanted to study fashion when she went to college in a couple of years, gushed with a grin. “She also has all these eclectic things to do there. Things that don’t make most websites’ to do lists.” 

Andrew knew Skye knew about most of those because she was avoiding going home during a bad placement, but he made no comment about it. Instead he bluntly explained the truth. “The kids have all figured out ways to connect with Skye that don’t make her feel like an obligation.”

“She’s seriously good at Halo,” Stephen commented, slightly awed. “She’s shared cheat codes with me that none of my friends know about.” 

Andrew couldn’t help but grin at that. It seemed if anything computer-related was put in front of Skye, she could hack it in less than five minutes, finding hidden partitions no one else seemed to know about. Despite Skye interest in Ops, Andrew knew Fury was silently rooting for her to apply to the Comms Academy. Andrew didn’t really blame him - Fury wasn’t trying to influence Skye’s decision, and gaining a full-time hacker like Skye would be a serious coup for an organization like SHIELD. 

“I know your hearts are all in the right place,” Andrew continued. “But I’m not going to put her in a position where she feels obligated to talk to you because you’re my family. She had no choice in how she had to grow up and part of the way that Melinda and I are dealing with that is to give her as much choice and freedom as we can. That  _ includes _ her choice to become an Agent of SHIELD.” He gave his father a look. His father hadn’t been particularly supportive of that decision, but then his father was still mad at him from when he himself joined.

“I just don’t understand,” his sister ventured patiently. “How can she be comfortable at SHIELD but not with us?”

Andrew let out a long-suffering sigh. “Listen, it’s none of your business. I’m not about to decide things for Skye. And I’m not going to make her do anything. Melinda and I… Skye’s an adult. She deserves to be treated like that.”

“She’s only sixteen,” his sister objected. 

“This, by the way, is why I don’t pressure Skye into coming here. I’m not going to have her here while all of you question every decision we make for her or the decisions she makes for herself. She has enough to worry about. I’m not giving her a reason to think someone in her life doesn’t love her.”

“Of course we love Skye!” his father objected.

Andrew nodded. “I know you all do. I’m not trying to say you don’t. But Skye reads things a certain way and while she’s made a  _ ton _ of progress in the last year she’s still going to see you questioning her decisions to be not loving her. I don’t want her to be set back. I don’t want to give her any idea she should be anything but proud of what she’s accomplished.”

\---------

Skye was a little bored. It wasn’t a bad thing, exactly. But she was positive that she was happy not to live here, though it was still nice to visit. While Laura manned the Barton family booth at the festival, Clint and Natasha took her to the other booths, shops, and games. Clint knew the tricks on how to win all the games, but Skye refused to let him tell her. She wanted to figure it out for herself.

She got Christmas presents for Māmā and Dad, since either of them could take her to get everyone else presents with her allowance. Since she didn’t spend her allowance on anything, she had a lot of money that she could use to thank everyone for everything they’d done in the past year. She knew that what Clint and Natasha had done to help her wasn’t standard. Not even Ops agents were normally trained by legends like them. 

Skye wasn’t completely over her issues with guns. They still made her nervous, but Clint had been really patient in showing her the difference between the safety and the clip release, and she’d even stopped saying ‘bang’ when she fired. 

Now, despite the edge of nerves, she could play a shooting game with Clint, with bb guns. She didn’t  _ win _ of course, but it was a lot of fun. Natasha then brought her to bean bag toss and she won a coupon for an ice cream. They went to the ice cream shop after a lunch that Māmā would certainly object to and Skye happily enjoyed a cone of cookie dough in the warmth of the shop.

There were other teens hanging around the shop, enjoying floats and ice cream themselves. Several of the teen boys eyed her and finally the largest came forward. “We haven’t seen you around before,” he blurted out. “You new in town?”

“Just visiting a friend,” Skye murmured softly. She saw Natasha across the square since she’d gone back outside to talk to Clint.

“You interested in making another friend?” the boy asked.

Skye shook her head. “I think I’m okay,” she denied. “I’m just here for the weekend.”

For a moment, Skye was afraid that the boy wasn’t going to take the hint, but he shrugged and nodded. “Cool. If you need anything though, tell someone you’re looking for Tommy and I’ll help how I can.”

Skye smiled a little, though it was a little shakily. Tommy went back to his friends; Skye finished her ice cream, then went out to the Barton booth. Laura took one look at her before pressing a mug of hot chocolate into her hands. Skye wound up on the ground with blankets underneath and around her. Clint must have told Laura about Skye catching the flu because Laura seemed adamant that Skye keep warm.

Despite her raised awareness, due to her interaction with Tommy, Skye eventually calmed down and ended up dozing under the warm blankets. 

Skye came back to some state of consciousness when she heard Clint, Natasha, and Laura talking. 

“.. take her home…” Clint murmured.

“She’s been working hard… needs rest,” Natasha added.

“... see you… dinner…” Laura insisted. 

Skye sat up, blinking blearily, still trying to wake up.

“Come on, Skye,” Clint noted, helping her to her feet. “We’re gonna go home.”

“‘S over?” Skye slurred, still clearly not fully awake.

“Almost,” Clint breathed. “We need to go make dinner while Laura wraps things up.”

Skye blinked a couple of times, then blushed. “Sorry I wasn’t more help,” she apologized to Laura. 

Laura waved her off. “You’re hardly the first person to take a nap in a booth. Last year Clint slept all day.”

“I had just come back from a three-week business trip!” Clint objected. It took a minute for Skye to connect that by ‘business trip,’ Clint was talking about a mission.

“I’m not blaming you,” Laura teased. “I’m just pointing out to Skye that there’s no shame in sleeping.”

“Okay,” Skye agreed quietly. She went red as she saw Laura take a look at Clint. She was familiar with the looks from her family at home, but she hadn’t seen one in a while. 

Skye wasn’t sure if it was because she was slowly becoming more comfortable with SHIELD or because they were getting used to her reactions to things. She still knew she was more withdrawn in environments that had too many unknown variables. A new place with a lot of people she didn’t trust set her on edge.

Natasha and Clint were signing to each other. Skye had picked up a few words and phrases over the last year, so she knew they were talking about her, but their hands moved too rapidly for Skye to understand. Skye didn’t really pay attention anyways. Clint had taught Skye that it was a little rude to watch someone have a conversation in sign. 

“You okay, Skye?” Clint asked. 

“Uh, yeah,” Skye muttered. 

“You did a really good job today,” Natasha comforted.

“What?” Skye asked, surprised.

“We both know this was a challenge for you,” Natasha pointed out. “You were able to deal with a large number of strangers without having a panic attack. You used your hyper-awareness to your advantage like we taught you and I’m fairly sure I saw you smiling there for a while.”

“It wasn’t… bad,” Skye admitted. “I’m just tired.”

“Today was stressful,” Natasha agreed. “But it gave me an idea for your next challenge.” Skye frowned, but said nothing. “I get together with a group of female agents once a week and we spar. No rules, except for the fact that you can’t do permanent damage to the other person.”

“I’ve seen it a couple of times,” Clint noted. “They  _ all _ fight dirty.”’

“You really think I’m ready?” Skye asked, some of the softness leaving her voice as intrigue and excitement took over.

“I think you’re ready to learn from someone other than me,” Natasha noted. “Plus it’ll get you acclimated to fighting with people you don’t interact with socially.”

Saturday was spent lazing around and putting up Christmas decorations. Skye was amazed at the amount of materials used. There were two trees, yards of garland, a metric ton of lights. Clint cracked a smile at Skye’s expression. 

“Laura loves Christmas,” he explained. “She tends to add to all of this every year, during the clearance events.” 

Skye smiled softly. “I like that,” she noted. “It’s nice. Homey. Kinda reminds me of one of those old Christmas movies that Andrew always wants to show me.”

Clint looked at her for a moment. “You miss them,” he noted.

Skye nodded a little sadly. “I was… kinda looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with Dad. Not that I don’t love it here. I just…”

“I get that,” Clint said. “They’re your family.” 

“Yeah,” Skye admitted. “I’ve never… had one before.”

“Well, we’re headed back tonight, after dinner,” Clint noted. “Between the three of us, we should get you back by noon tomorrow.”

Skye smiled. “You’re down, right?” she asked. Laura was so close to giving birth that Fury had pulled Clint off of rotation. 

Clint nodded. “I’ll drive back here, probably be back by Tuesday night. I’m off rotation until New Year’s at least. Fury’s faking some paperwork to make it look like I’ll be on mission in Nova Scotia.”

“It’s cold there this time of year,” Skye quipped. “You gonna bring me something back?”

Clint grinned. “I always bring Nat a snowglobe. Helps to sell it. I could get you something like that if you want but…”

“I’m fine, really. I was only kidding,” Skye backpedaled, blushing.

“Okay,” Clint chuckled, just the slightest tone of teasing in his voice, which usually indicated he was up to something. Skye narrowed her eyes and looked at Clint for a moment before letting whatever it was go.

By the time Skye got home the next day, she was more than ready to spend time with her parents. Melinda’s mission had ended the night before, so Andrew was taking Monday off and they were all enjoying a late Thanksgiving as a family. Skye told them what little she could about Thanksgiving, omitting the parts about Laura, and her parents seemed pleased that she had had a good time.

“At least that’s over,” Melinda breathed after hearing that Andrew had let his family have it over the holiday. “I’ve been telling you to do that for the last ten years.”

“Dad actually  _ apologized _ for taking advantage of me by the end of the weekend,” Andrew offered, looking extremely happy about the idea. “My father’s never apologized for anything.”

“Drew’s family had him mediate an argument during our wedding,” Melinda grumbled.

“They mean well,” Andrew defended. “They just got used to having someone in the family who could talk everyone down. They’ll have to get used to doing it on their own now.”

Skye knew all about this. She’d received several text messages and two Facebook posts about the argument that had taken place. Skye was rather pleased that her cousins had so quickly come to her defense. They had been right. With Māmā and Dad and Nat and Clint, sometimes she was handled with kid gloves because they were trying to undo a lifetime of traumas that the System had caused. With everyone else, for the most part she was just Skye. She knew Fitz never approached her differently than he did anyone else, save to give her physical space to respect her fears. 

Saturday brought a change in Skye’s schedule. Rather than sparring, Natasha brought her to a gym later in the day. 

Five women were already in there. All of them looked rather terrifying as they were warming up. One of them, a blonde, was almost the same age as she was. Everyone else looked to be in their mid-30s.

“Everyone,” Natasha announced, putting a hand on Skye’s shoulder. “This is Skye.” Everyone stopped their warm up and looked at Skye. “Skye, this LT, Maria, Sharon, Victoria, and Izzy. We don’t do last names here.”

“Though some of us don’t hide them on purpose,” Izzy noted with a grin. “Sharon doesn’t share her last name either. We have bets going on who she’s related to.”

“Welcome to the Gauntlet,” Victoria welcomed with a small smile. “Natasha’s told us a lot about you. You have to be good to have impressed her as much as you have, based on what she’s told us.”

Skye blushed. “I’m alright. I want to get better though.”

“You can talk after. Sharon… can you take Skye through warmups?” Natasha asked.

“Sure,” Sharon agreed. 

Sharon took Skye through stretches and basic warm ups. Then the sparring started. As she expected, she found herself getting her ass kicked by Sharon. That said, Skye suddenly understood why Natasha had wanted her to come. There were different body types and fighting styles in this group. She could learn from this. For the first time, she felt something different about the entire process. It wasn’t something she had to get through to become a good agent any more. This was something that she  _ wanted _ , that she was  _ hungry _ for. She wanted to learn this. She wanted to get  _ good _ at this.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas, Skye ate, slept, and breathed training. Andrew tried to get her to ease up, thinking that it bordered on obsessive and wasn’t healthy, but Skye didn’t care. This was… who she was meant to be. She wanted to be the best she possibly could.

Natasha got busy teaching her everything she could when she and Clint weren’t on a mission. When they were gone, she got LT or Sharon, or one of the others to teach her something. When no one was around she’d sneak into the SHIELD Ops library and study.

Eventually, the week before Christmas, Andrew put his foot down. “That’s it. You’re officially on vacation. No more training.”

“What?” Skye asked. “What do you mean? I have three more days before China… I have to get this done.”

“Skye, you’re working too hard. You need to take a break,” he pressed, taking away the book Skye’d been reading. 

“No!” she snapped, snatching it back.

“Skye,” he appealed, slightly hurt by her actions. 

“I have to do this. I have to be worth…”

“You are… oh Skye, you so are,” her father cried, hugging her. “Skye, you train against some of the best SHIELD has to offer. The best in the  _ world _ . You’re doing so well. But Skye, we wouldn’t care if you were the worst agent in the world. We’d still love you. You’re perfect the way you are.”

“I just don’t want you to regret it,” Skye noted softly.

“I never have and I never will,” he reassured her. 

Skye seemed to take what Andrew said to heart and ceased working, instead researching things to do on their first ever family vacation. So that’s how Skye found herself, bouncing nervously in line as she held on tight to her newly acquired passport and ticket. “It’s okay, Skye,” Melinda urged easily. “We got here in plenty of time to get through security.”

“I just… I guess I’m just excited,” Skye admitted.

“I am too,” Andrew professed. “You worked a miracle, Skye. I didn’t think I’d ever convince Melinda to take a vacation from work. Apart from mandatory leave, that is.”

Melinda shrugged. “I don’t like commercial airlines,” she noted. “I prefer to fly myself.”

“Someone’s got control issues,” Skye teased in a sing-song voice.

Andrew laughed deeply as Melinda rolled her eyes. “Come on, our group is boarding.”

It was a thirteen hour flight to Beijing with a twelve hour time difference, so when the plane took off, Andrew encouraged them all to get some sleep, despite it being nine in the morning. Between the three of them, Andrew had the hardest time with this and finally gave up on sleeping, deciding that he’d cat nap for the next couple of days.

They’d be spending the following four days, including Christmas Day, in Beijing before touring Hunan, and while Skye had pestered them into not giving her anything for Christmas, that didn’t mean he and Melinda didn’t have plans. 

William had recommended a number of open markets they could go to and tons of Museums, since Christmas wasn’t a public holiday in China. 

Skye was curled up in the window seat of the plane. A lifetime in the system allowed her to sleep at anytime and anywhere, which would be a benefit to her in a life with SHIELD, but that didn’t mean that Andrew didn’t wish that his daughter hadn’t gone through it.

From time to time she would get a look on her face that told Andrew that she would never completely recover from what was done to her, and while she’d made huge leaps of progress regarding her nightmares and panic attacks, the nightmares still happened weekly and Skye still had to carry a bottle of anxiety medications with her. Because of his position in SHIELD, he knew Skye would always have a priority note in her file in case of a mission went wrong. She’d be required to talk to a therapist more often than normal agents would, and the upper echelon would be watching Skye carefully as a low-ranked agent. 

He knew Fury was already regularly talking to Natasha about Skye’s training and who would be best positioned to be her SO when the time came. Andrew had been surprised when Natasha had noted that Phil Coulson might be the best for the position, but then again Coulson had been the SO for some of the best agents out there. 

“Stop thinking so hard,” his wife murmured. “Take your own advice.”

\------

Skye quickly realized that visiting her home country made everything a little bittersweet. This is where she was supposed to have grown up. A place where who she was would have been defined by where she came from. She didn’t know where she came from. Didn’t know her real name. Despite these things, she somehow knew who she was. She might not have been born into the family that raised her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know who she was.

“Pretty epic view, isn’t it?” Melinda asked. Skye was broken out of her thoughts and stopped staring out over the expanse that the Great Wall overlooked.

“Yeah,” Skye sighed.

“I was just about your age, the first time I saw it,” Melinda disclosed.

“Really?” Skye wondered curiously.

Melinda nodded. “Dad brought me here. Wanted me to know where I came from.”

“It’s important to know where you came from,” Skye intoned. 

“Do you think you’re ready for tomorrow?”

Skye frowned. They were going to Hunan tomorrow. And their first stop was going to be to the ruins of the village she was supposed to have been raised in. “No,” she speculated honestly. “I don’t think anyone could ever be completely ready for…”

Her mother put an arm around her comfortingly as Skye trailed off. “I suppose not,” she agreed. “But we don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”

“I definitely want to,” Skye admitted softly. “I… it feels like I… owe them something.” Her mother made a disapproving noise. “Maybe owe is the wrong word, but they died because…”

“You don’t know why they died,” Melinda corrected. “And whatever happened, that wasn’t on you. You…”

For some reason, the older woman stopped speaking. “What?” Skye asked. 

“I think this is a conversation to have tonight in our hotel.”

Skye nodded. A year ago, if someone had said that, she’d have a panic attack, but she trusted her parents. She knew that wasn’t a big deal for a lot of people, but it was huge for her. To trust that someone had her back… for the first time in her life she wasn’t feeling quite so alone against the world. 

So that evening, after dinner, they sat in their hotel room, all of them looking a little uncomfortable. “There’s something that we didn’t tell you about the file you were looking for,” Melinda started. “The agent who placed you in the foster system labeled you as a 0-8-4.”

Skye stiffened. 0-8-4s were fairly rare. Only one or two were found each year. They were usually weapons… dangerous items that could destroy the world. “I’m an object of unknown origin?” she asked, slightly frightened of herself.

“No,” her dad pressed firmly. “The agent  _ labeled  _ you as one. That doesn’t in any way mean you  _ are _ one. You’re as human as I am.”

“Have you ever seen yourself display any sort of powers?” her mother prompted her.

“I mean… no… but…” Skye hesitated. “You really think all of this is nothing?”

“I think something horrible happened that day,” her mother responded. “The report stated that the village had been destroyed. But whatever happened, it happened  _ to  _ you. You weren’t the cause of it and you weren’t responsible.”

“What… what happened…” she asked. “What happened to the agents who found me?”

Her mother made a sympathetic noise as her father shifted closer to her. “They were killed,” he noted. “We think that’s why they put the protocol on your file. Fury suspects that something was after you for some reason or another.” Skye looked at him, shocked at the news. 

“What?” she breathed. “They… they saved me…” Her mother and father comforted her as best as they could while she processed the information. “I could have died there, without them.”

Neither of her parents seemed to like the reality that they’d come so close to losing Skye before they even met her. “They did,” Melinda finally admitted. “And we’re so glad they did.”

Somehow it took some of the sting out of the fact that Skye had such a horrible childhood. Whatever had been after her, it had lost track of her in the foster system. She was alive today because those agents had sacrificed themselves. It made sense, if something was after her, that she was being taught how to defend herself so well. No wonder agents like Natasha and Clint were training her.

“That’s why Nat and Clint are training me, right?” Skye asked. “So no one else gets hurt?”

Her parents exchanged a look. “That’s a part of it,” her Dad hedged carefully.

“Mostly though, they like you and want to teach you how to fight so  _ you _ don’t get hurt again,” her mother gently corrected. “Like it or not dumpling, you’ve built yourself a family in the last year and I don’t think any of us would be very happy if you were injured on mission or off of it.”

“You know I’m going into Ops,” Skye argued . “I don’t think I’ll be able to never get hurt on a mission.”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you every day that you’re out in the field,” her mother noted.

“She’s going to go gray worrying about you,” her father chuckled, laughter in his eyes.

“Hey!” her mother objected, shoving her father.

He laughed. One of his big, hearty, belly laughs. “If it matters, I’m sure I will too,” he declared.

It was sobering for all of them to see the village ruins the next day. The ruins still were abandoned, picked over by the few survivors that had remained. Skye cried over… she hadn’t really been sure what. There seemed to be an infinite list of things to cry over, here. Her parents, the villagers, the life she had never been given... the world seemed upside-down.

She wasn’t the only one crying. Her mother and father were also silently crying. After they spent time in the village, they stopped by a very small Buddhist temple. Wàigōng had told her how to pay her respects in case she wanted to. And she so wanted to.

As Skye exited the temple, an elderly man accidently bumped into her. Skye immediately blushed, bowed low, and apologized in Mandarin.

“Jiaying?” the man asked in the same language. “Jiaying, is that you?”

“Apologies, I’m not her,” Skye blushed. “My name is…” she struggled for a translation for her name “Tiankong.”

The man grasped both of Skye’s hands, spotting her parents. “Ah,” he hesitated. “You must forgive an old man. My eyes are not as good as they once were.”

“Of course,” Skye excused with a smile. They parted ways and Skye and her parents walked back to the car, ready to return to their hotel in Hengyang after the long, trying day. The next day, they spent the day at a nearby hot springs to unwind and relax. 

Skye was able to spend the entire day speaking Mandarin, since few people spoke English. When Skye shared that she had been born in Hunan and adopted very young, which was not uncommon due to China’s one-child policy back when Skye was a baby, some of the locals her age had taken it upon themselves to teach Skye some Hunanese. Thanks to wàigōng, she had gone from passable comprehension to near-fluency in Mandarin, but spending time with people her age, she was determined to learn this dialect as well. She was taking Russian at Georgetown starting in the Fall to fulfill her language requirement and knew that Natasha wanted her to start learning Spanish as well. Skye knew that Hunanese would have very little practical application as an agent, but she didn’t care. This was something for her. 

They spent the rest of their vacation touring museums and doing slightly more tourist-type activities. Still, Skye couldn’t help but think about the fact that her life would have been extremely different had things gone differently. One event had changed the course of her life forever. She wasn’t entirely sure how comfortable she was with that fact. She knew that it was something she’d want to talk to Dr. Wells about when she got back home. 

The topic came up during Skye’s session after returning home. “What are you thinking about?” Dr. Wells prompted her. She’d slowly over the last year grown to trust her therapist. They hadn’t talked much about some of the more horrific parts of her past beyond Skye mentioning them in passing, but Skye was certainly past the point where she’d draw silently during each session.

“During our vacation… I couldn’t help but think… how different my life would have been if whatever happened… hadn’t happened,” Skye explained softly.

“They told you?” Dr. Wells asked.

Skye looked down and nodded. “Is it wrong that I’m grateful?”

“I don’t think there can be a wrong way to feel in a situation like that,” Dr. Wells noted.

“I always thought my parents had abandoned me. If I survived something horrible, there’s a chance… just maybe they wanted me. Just maybe I was loved.”

“You should talk to some of your friends in Ops about this,” Dr. Wells noted idly. “I have a feeling certain people would understand that completely.”

Skye knew exactly what she was saying. Natasha, Clint, Bobbi… they all knew the value of knowing they’d been wanted, before things happened to destroy their childhood. This was the first time that Skye had even considered it a possibility.

“It doesn’t make what happened any less…” Skye trailed off. She still had a hard time talking about it. She still had nightmares once a week or so. Dr. Wells knew the signs indicating when she would keep talking by now, so stayed silent. “Most days I hate Linda Avery,” she confessed. Dr. Wells nodded in comprehension. “I know I shouldn’t. I mean… she’s dead, and she more than likely sacrificed her life to save mine and it’s not that I’m not grateful for that because I  _ am _ but… I can’t help but wonder where I’d be if she took me into Headquarters. To Director Fury or to someone she trusted.  _ Anyone _ she trusted that could have kept me safe.”

Skye sighed. “There’s a pseudo-anarchist group called the Rising Tide… they’re hackers. I know a couple of them… They wanted me to join them, after they heard I’d run away. I can’t imagine what I would have done with them to survive… as mad as I was at SHIELD a year ago… they would have just fueled my rage to serve their purposes.”

This was the first time she’d talked about this. Where she was headed when she’d mistakenly caught a few hours of sleep in a SHIELD agent’s safe house rather than in an actual abandoned apartment. Skye knew Wells was making mental notes, even though she hadn’t reacted at all outwardly.

“A single mistake brought me the family I’ve always wanted, it’s gotten me… everything I’ve ever needed and more. I can’t help but know that if I hadn’t made it, I’d still be alone… angry… I’d still think SHIELD did this to me.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye has a birthday, comes clean to Fitz, and starts to learn to fight.

After returning from China, Skye had nightmares for the entire next week. They always started with the fire burning down her village and ended with Melinda and Andrew replacing foster parents who were among those who were more emotionally and physically abusive towards her. She didn’t know why she was having these nightmares, but she began to feel antsy and anxious. 

Part of what was beneficial that she’d never stayed in one place for longer than six months was that she never had to really lose anyone she felt tied to. And yet here she was, approaching a year of living in the same house. She had stability for the first time in her life, but there was still a part of her that was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was waiting for them to stop loving her. She knew they did. She trusted that they did, but she’d been so used to bad things happening that it was easier to expect them. 

Thankfully, her parents seemed be aware of this, and were going out of their way to inform Skye of all of their plans regarding her birthday. She was responsible for picking something she wanted to do and a place to eat, which was an impossible feat because Clint, Bobbi, Hunter, and Natasha all refused to make suggestions. 

Finally, Skye managed to wear Clint down into helping her. “What do you like?” he asked.

Skye shrugged. “I’m fairly sure Māmā doesn’t want me hacking anything even if it’s my birthday,” she noted.

Clint rolled his eyes. “I know you like other stuff,” he pointed out. 

She shrugged. “I don’t care…” she noted. “We can do whatever.”

“What about Captain America?”

She stiffened. “What about him?”

“You seem to know a lot about him,” he faltered. “There are several exhibits around D.C. about his life. Even a walking tour that strings them all together. Plus the exhibit on the SSR in the International Spy Museum about what his legacy built.” 

She put her hand up to the star necklace she always wore. Clint had only seen it once, by accident, during archery practice. “It’s not like that,” she denied carefully.

“What’s it like?” he prompted.

Skye was silent for a moment. “It’s because of my file,” she mumbled.

Clint tensed. No one liked talking about her file. “What about it?” he queried as calmly and nonchalantly as he could.

“About half of the stuff that’s in there is there because I used to get between two people having an argument.” Clint could translate. Skye’d draw the attention of an abusive foster parent so that none of the other kids in the house got hurt. She’d been their literal shield. “When I was eight and going through communion… there was this thing at St. Agnes’ that only one kid got Captain America each year. Saint Steve. Because every kid wanted him… they almost always assigned it. My year, they gave it to Missy Hepburn.”

“The thing was, I’d been in the system so long that all the kids knew me as their shield. I’d redirect attention onto me. Protect them from bullies, no matter how big. So the kids rioted until the nuns gave it to me…  _ Steve Rogers _ , the kid who hated bullies and risked everything for his friends… that’s who they saw me as. A couple of the kids even saw me as Steve Rogers reborn or something. Pretty stupid, huh?”

“Can I hug you?” he asked carefully. Skye considered the request, then darted in quickly and embraced Clint. Clint hugged her back until the second she pulled away. “I think if Steve Rogers were alive today he’d be proud of you for being that person for all those kids,” he expressed. 

Skye blushed. “I kinda like the idea of doing something Steve Rogers-related,” she offered, ignoring the compliment and returning to the topic at hand. Clint put in something in the search website on her computer. “To be honest…” Skye turned to her computer. “Hey! There’s a museum that’s got an exhibit all about Steve Rogers’ life before the serum?”

“Really?” Clint teased.

“Oh stop it,” Skye scoffed, reading on. “Apparently the Howlies funded it. The Smithsonian didn’t want it, because it didn’t fit with the ideal that _ The Captain America Adventure Program  _ outlined, so, apparently, the Washington Museum for Health and Medicine took it on.”

“So you’re saying that you know what you want for your birthday?” Clint asked. 

“Yeah,” Skye agreed softly. “I think that’d be fun.”

Skye’s birthday landed on a Sunday, so the day previous was a gauntlet meeting. Of course, the second the members caught on what January 15th was, they did their best to talk their way out of working out.

“Come on Nat,” Izzy begged. “Give the girl the day off. She’s been going practically non-stop for the last year.”

“You just want ice cream,” Victoria pointed out with a tender smile.

“You’re damn right I want ice cream,” Izzy confirmed with a smile.

“And the fact that it’s the middle of January doesn’t matter to her in the least,” Victoria noted, clearly amused at her wife’s habits.

“I guess we could go for ice cream,” Natasha teased Skye. “Just this once.”

“YES!” LT cried. “You’re a hero to many, Skye.”

“We’ll make up for it tomorrow,” Natasha added. “0600.”

LT groaned. “Tyrant.” But LT was smiling and there was no real fire in her voice.

“You’ll thank me when you hit level 8 before you’re thirty,” Natasha noted.

“Why would I want that?” LT asked. “Lower level agents get all the fun.”

Natasha, Skye knew, had an alternative reason for going for ice cream. She was trying to expose Skye to situations where she had to be friendly and social with people she didn’t really know. 

Natasha had spent the last year teaching Skye how to fake calm and ease when she was around people that she didn’t trust. As nice as the ladies of the Gauntlet where, she didn’t trust them. But it was good practice and she did enjoy practicing on them. And getting ice cream was a good bonus.

The next day, Skye turned 17. Clint, Natasha, Bobbi, and Hunter were all there for it, and for the first time in her life, Skye was happy on her birthday. They started at the International Spy Museum, moved on to the Museum where ‘skinny Steve’ was featured, then finished at the Smithsonian. 

Skye had asked for no gifts, but everyone somehow managed to talk her into buying her presents at each stop. Melinda and Andrew bought her a tee that read, ‘Always be yourself. Unless you can be Captain America. Then be Captain America.’ Bobbi and Hunter got her a Captain America bobble head. Nat and Clint had somehow obtained a Captain America comic, Issue #1 Original that had been signed by Steve Rogers himself.

Skye couldn’t help but hang out with her parents. Skye knew most people her age wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with their parents, but Skye came from a different point of view. She knew exactly what people her age took for granted, and hoped she never reached a point where she did too.

“This is cool,” Skye gushed to Melinda, looking at the uniform that Steve had worn while rescuing the 107th back in the 40s. The radio that had broken was featured a little ways away.

Her Māmā hugged Skye tightly in response. Since no one was around, Skye melted into it. “Happy Birthday, sweetheart,” she breathed softly.

“Thanks Māmā,” Skye whispered.

As January progressed, classes at Georgetown started. College, she discovered, was going to be a whole different kind of challenge. Because while the classes were certainly easy enough, relating to her ‘peers’ was proving to be difficult. Natasha suggested approaching it like undercover work. Melinda and Andrew told her to give it time. But Skye had lived with hardship and heartache for most of her life and the good parts were filled with SHIELD and spies and things the other kids just couldn’t comprehend.

On some level, she was glad that she wasn’t starting at the beginning of the year. She didn’t think she could handle all the freshman who thought being on their own was the most exciting thing ever. She’d been on her own. Having people with you was much better, in her opinion.

With their recently gained independence, they did things that Skye just wasn’t interested in. She’d rather be up all night hacking and working on Comms projects than going out and partying, and she’d rather study hard to get good grades and ensure that she’d get a job at SHIELD rather than skipping class like some of her classmates did. Her Comms job was her salvation. Agents weren’t nearly as green as college freshman. They’d seen more. Done more. Even the cadets at SHIELD knew they were signing up for something much bigger than themselves. They took it as seriously as Skye took it.

“Skye!” came a voice.

Skye was pulled out of her thoughts in front of her work station as she saw Jemma approaching her. “Jemma! Hey!”

“I haven’t seen you at SciTech recently,” Jemma noted teasingly. “You didn’t switch your loyalty to Comms, did you?”

Skye smiled and shook her head. “Nah, this just pays the bills until I get into Ops.”

“Ops? Really?” Jemma asked, sounding shocked. 

“Yeah, well,” Skye hedged. “Guess I just really don’t like bullies.”

Jemma’s smile softened. “I can understand that.” Jemma didn’t know much about Skye’s childhood, but had heard from Fitz all about what had happened when Jackson had grabbed her.

“So what brings you here?” Skye asked curiously, diverting Jemma’s thoughts.

“Yes, well… Agent Weaver says that Fitz and I may get our pick of assignments when we graduate next May and she suggested we intern somewhere for the summer rather than go home.” 

Skye nodded. Intern assignments to third year cadets was pretty standard. It gave both SHIELD and the cadets a better idea of what post-graduation life would be like. “Isn’t the Sandbox like… your dream?” Skye asked, referring to the SHIELD base that was 90% research.

“Fitz would prefer an assignment like the Sandbox, but I’m not sure…” Jemma hesitated. “I wanted to check this place out. Alternatively, the Hub has amazing resources.”

“You know what? I have time to grab a cup of coffee,” Skye reported, checking her watch. “I can share with you what I know about this place.”

Despite being two years older than Skye, from the fifteen minute conversation Skye had with Jemma, it sounded like Jemma wanted an assignment that would challenge her and expand her horizons. She knew Fitz wasn’t quite ready for an adventure like Simmons was and idly wondered if they’d break apart after graduation. Jemma explained Weaver had been pushing her to challenge herself and do something that she wouldn’t normally do. And if there was anyone that Skye thought needed their horizons expanded, it was Jemma Simmons.

Her brief pre-Christmas panic notwithstanding, Skye didn’t want to be a good agent just for the sake of being the best. She just wanted to help people. And if she became a better version of herself along the way, then that was even better.

Dating Fitz had its good moments, too. Since they knew they had no future together, they mostly went to the movies or out for a meal a few times a month. Skye was really starting to trust the Scotsman with more personal parts to her life. She told him the parts of her childhood that were easier to share, and he told her in turn about growing up with an alcoholic father who had abandoned him and his mum when he was a child. 

Skye had talked to her parents about telling Fitz who she was, and both of them told her it was entirely up to her who knew who she was. The only reason why she was on the record as ‘Agent Skye’ was that she didn’t want people to think that she was cutting the line because of her parents. Even though most of her training was due to how she’d been found, she had earned her spot in SHIELD. She didn’t want people thinking any different.

Between classes and work, training and therapy, Skye wasn’t completely shocked to see January and February fly by. She spent Valentine’s Day with Fitz, but not doing anything remotely romantic. Instead, they spent the weekend building a car engine from scratch. Fitz took the lead, but was teaching Skye a ton about mechanical engineering. Skye had a good amount of money saved from allowance, work, and gifts, so she was currently playing with the idea of buying her own car and fixing it up. Fitz had latched on to the idea, coming up with all sorts of customizations she could make from scratch. 

“They made you get a Volvo Station Wagon?” Fitz asked the next weekend.

Skye laughed. It was a mustard yellow, ugly-as-sin station wagon with about a million miles on it, but she figured she and Fitz could fix it up. “Yeah. Dad says driving an ‘old-and-busted’ during your teen years was a rite of passage.”

Fitz was circling it thoughtfully. “We’d need to replace the engine of course. The glass will have to be two-inch polycarbonate. Reinforce the metal. Update the colors… black?”

“I only have a few hundred dollars left,” Skye interjected.

“I can get most of this from leftovers and scraps from other projects. Didn’t you mention you were recruited by higher-level agents?”

Skye hesitated. She’d been private about who was in her life, partially because she didn’t want the cadets at SciTech to get overly excited. And partially because she honestly wanted to keep her family to herself. Still, she had an open invitation to bring home whatever friends she wanted whenever she wanted to, though Melinda had requested that she be careful about bringing people from Georgetown over without warning. Given Skye’s impression of the other students there, it wasn’t likely. 

“Do you…” Skye hesitated. “Would you like to come to dinner?” she asked.

“I mean… I was just going to grab something at the cafeteria…” Fitz shared.

“No, I mean… off campus. At my parents’ house.” Fitz froze. Skye realized that from the outside, it probably looked like it was an important step in a relationship that didn’t actually exist. “They know,” Skye noted. “About… us and what we’re doing. They’re actually really in favor of my… practicing. So do you want to meet them?” 

“I’d love to,” Fitz agreed.

Despite Andrew’s obvious surprise at Fitz’s presence, he smiled warmly at him. 

“Dad, this is Leo Fitz. Leo Fitz, this is my Dad. Andrew Garner. He’s a psychiatrist at the Triskellion,” Skye introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Andrew greeted. “Are you joining us for dinner?”

Fitz smiled nervously. “If that’s all right,” he stammered. “I mean… Skye invited me… and…”

Andrew laughed. “It’s fine. Skye knows she’s allowed to invite friends to dinner as long as she keeps it small,” he explained. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”

“No, I eat everything,” Fitz blushed.

“We typically eat Chinese food,” Skye explained. She looked at Andrew. “We’re having liáng cài and jiǎo zi tonight, right?” 

“Right,” Andrew nodded.

“That’s vegetable cold dish and dumplings,” Skye explained to Fitz. “My wàigōng comes over a few times a month and we cook all our meals then freeze them or stick them in the fridge.”

“You  _ cook _ ?” Fitz asked, a little shocked.

“I do,” Skye affirmed. “There are sides to me that I don’t show at SciTech.”

Andrew chuckled. Skye shot him a look. She was willing to show Fitz, but she was afraid Andrew was going to tell him. She didn’t think Fitz would take it seriously and didn’t want him to laugh at her. 

As they pulled past the gatehouse that granted them entry, Skye glanced at Fitz awkwardly. Fitz gained a small smile as he looked at Skye. “You never made it seem like you lived like this,” he inquired. Skye blushed and he seemed to automatically correct himself. “I just mean… you made it seem like it was just a place to live until you turned eighteen.”

Skye inwardly cringed at the momentary hurt look her dad gained, as he often did when something like this came up. “I had… a complicated childhood,” Skye began after a long moment. She hadn’t told anyone about the abuse at SciTech, except for telling a few things to Jo. “I confess I’m not great at letting people in. I have a family, a good one.”

“Right,” Fitz nodded. “You were in foster care until SHIELD found you and you were adopted.”

Skye braced herself. “No,” she admitted. Andrew sent her a look of support and understanding. 

Fitz’s eyes went wide. “No?” he asked, stunned.

“SHIELD didn’t really find me. I found them. Or rather… I found one of them. I think I scared him. He… didn’t find me in a good position.”

Andrew snorted, making Skye jump. She’d almost forgotten about him. “If you’re going to tell him, Skye, tell him.”

Skye looked down to the floor of Andrew’s SUV. “I’d been living on the street,” she admitted. “I was malnourished, dehydrated and a little hurt.” Fitz made a noise of shock and he looked pretty upset at the news. “Nothing major. Just a couple broken ribs, a burn on my back, and a fever. It was nothing.” Both Fitz and Andrew looked bothered by this, but said nothing. “After… um… after I got treatment in Medical, I admitted that I’d hacked into SHIELD.”

Fitz’s eyes went wide. “You hacked SHIELD?” he asked, stunned.

Skye nodded, basking a little in Fitz’s obvious awe. “I did. From a laptop I won in a bet on coffee shop wifi while I was homeless.”

Fitz whistled low. “No wonder Jo and the hackers gravitated towards you,” Fitz noted.

Skye nodded. “Fury knows I want into Operations, but he also wants to be able to utilize me as a hacker and a programmer.”

“We’re very proud of our Skye,” Andrew noted. 

Skye blushed deeply. “Daaaad,” Skye complained.

“I don’t get baby pictures. Give me this!” Andrew countered.

“Thank god we’re not really dating,” Skye muttered.

“If you were, it’d be worse for young Fitz,” Andrew laughed.

“Dad! Please say you wouldn’t,” Skye begged, paling.

“I don’t need to. But Clint, Nat, Hunter, and Bobbi would be over to the house in about a minute if I called.”

“Clint and…” Fitz started, his eyes going wide. “You’re not talking about STRIKE Team Delta are you?”

“Yeah?” Skye questioned. “They’re family.”

Fitz stared at her. “The Black Widow?”

“... trains me in hand-to-hand combat.”

Fitz actually looked a little scared. Skye blew a raspberry at him and Fitz jumped before smiling, remembering who he was talking to. “So Nat and Clint are family?”

“Yeah,” Skye beamed with a fond smile. “I'm sure they'd teach you how to fight if you wanted to.”

“No… no… I couldn't possibly…” Fitz stammered. “I’m sure they’re really busy and I’d need… a lot of work.”

“Come with me during one of my training sessions. Let them be the judge of that.”

Fitz seemed to accept this, because he didn’t press the issue. When they pulled in the driveway, Andrew got out first. “I’ll go tell Māmā to put another plate on the table.”

“You okay?” Skye asked. She hadn’t missed the looks Fitz was giving Andrew.

Fitz looked at her, unbuckled himself and sighed. “Can we take a quick walk?”

Skye nodded. “A short one,” she agreed.

They started down the block. After a few moments of silence, Fitz started speaking. “M’Dad beat my mom,” he mumbled. Skye stayed silent, not reacting and letting him speak. “He was an alcoholic… wicked smart but… uh… he always thought I was a bit cabbage. And then he started to beat me too, and… Ma threatened to call the coppers… so he left.”

“Sorry… cabbage?”

“Ah… uh… he thought I was an idiot.” 

Skye snorted in disbelief. “You? Clearly he didn’t know you that well.”

“Yeah, well… that’s my Dad for you,” Fitz grumbled.

“You know that Dad isn’t like that,” Skye explained slowly.

“I know… you…” Fitz sighed. “I want to. I do. I just… don’t know.”

Skye sighed. “I… do you know how many abusive men I’ve faced?”

“I know… you were assaulted…” Fitz looked awkward.

“Yeah… I… uh…” there was no easy way to talk about it. “Fourteen…” she admitted. “Twelve foster fathers were physically abusive, like your dad…”

Fitz closed his eyes in horror. “ _ Twelve _ ?”

Skye nodded, slowly. “It wasn’t… exactly… the happiest childhood. I was in foster care so I never knew when I was going to be sent to another home. And I didn’t know if it’d be good or bad.”

“Sounds horrible.”

“From my point of view it was just… something to survive. It was always temporary. I never stayed long. My point is… I wouldn’t still be here if Andrew was like that. He’s good and kind and… he gives a damn.”

Fitz considered her words carefully, then nodded. “Okay…” he agreed finally.

“Yeah?”

“If you trust him, I will too.”

As it turned out, Fitz got along pretty well with Andrew. Andrew, being Andrew, let Fitz set the pace, picking up on his hesitation. Melinda was almost motherly towards Fitz, inviting him to come over regularly once she heard that it had been years since Fitz had had a home-cooked meal. Skye was tempted to be a little jealous, but Andrew and Melinda made extra sure that she knew they weren’t replacing her and still loved her.

Weeks passed. Her Georgetown classes were okay. She was taking mostly core classes this semester, and while her history course,  _ World War II and the Era of the Howling Commandos _ , was amazing, she struggled with her writing course. She felt the need to join a study group  _ and _ get tutoring to keep her grade up. She was barely scraping by her A-average, but she was determined not to lose her GPA. She wanted to prove to her parents she was worth it.

Her “internship” at SHIELD in the Comms department was far more challenging and more fun. She consulted a bit on the base code for the HC-64 program, worked on network security, patching holes in the system that could be utilized by hackers, and writing new applications that could be used on agents’ smartphones.

Training with Natasha and Clint was getting more and more challenging. Nat had taken Fitz on and was teaching him rudimentary skills. Clint was currently trying to talk him into some weapons training, but so far he’d had no luck. Fitz merely reacted to Nat and Clint training him by offering to upgrade their weapons.

Skye’s training, meanwhile, had gotten an upgrade as well. She was currently waiting for Natasha to come back, jiggling her foot nervously. Natasha had determined that she was ready to fight a man. Even after a year of hand-to-hand training with Natasha and the Gauntlet members, spending time with Clint on weapons training, and regular therapy sessions, the idea made her nervous.  

When Coulson came into the gym with Natasha, she couldn’t help but tense up. 

Coulson waited for her to move, then responded in kind. It was one of the longer sparring sessions that she’d been involved in, but it didn’t take her long before she gained the upper hand and Coulson was laying on his back. The second she realized that she’d won, she immediately scampered backwards. Her breathing became rapid as her vision began to darken and she curled into herself, bracing for impact. 

She heard Coulson’s voice, counting off, distantly. Very slowly he talked her through her panic attack until she came back to herself. “I’m sorry,” she apologized softly. 

“It’s fine,” Coulson acknowledged, still crouched a good distance away. “Can I ask what I did that scared you?”

Skye looked away. “It’s not you… or it’s not anything you’re doing,” she admitted.

“What can I do to help?” Coulson asked earnestly.

Skye shrugged. “You’re… A lot of my foster dads were like you. They put on this ‘soccer dad’ persona for the rest of the world but I could tell… I could tell there was more to them. Maybe it was how they carried themselves. Or how other people interacted with them…”

“Like they were abusive?” Coulson asked softly.

“Like they were dangerous,” Skye explained. “Like they could kill a man. Some of them were ex-military, and were really good foster dads, others were… dangerous.”

“That’s partly why I wanted you to fight him, Skye,” Natasha explained. “There are plenty of male agents here who will pull their punches until you get used to fighting them. You don’t have to become an Ops agent, but if you’re going to be, you’ll need to be prepared to fight men who look like Coulson, as well as others.”

Skye nodded, understanding. “I’m okay,” she confirmed, taking a deep breath. “Can we go again?” Coulson looked surprised at that, but Natasha nodded encouragingly. 

They went twice more. By the third time, Skye wasn’t even panicking after she ‘won.’

“Think you could do that again?” Natasha asked as the headed to the locker room.

Skye nodded. “I’m up for it,” she agreed. 

“I can’t do it every week. Probably a couple times a month, given no long missions,” Coulson agreed. Natasha had explained to Skye that Coulson was her and Clint’s handler, so he was often sent out with them if one or the other or both were sent out, plus he had a lot more paperwork to do than they did.

“No worries. I have another person she can spar with,” Natasha agreed.

“Like who?” Coulson asked in interest.

“Rumlow, if I can convince him.” 

Coulson’s eyebrows disappeared to his hairline. “Rumlow? You’re going to have her fight Rumlow?” he asked.

“Who’s Rumlow?” Skye asked.

“STRIKE Team Alpha Leader, one of the youngest agents to be made STRIKE Team leader ever. Fury recruited him himself. He’s…”

“He’s an example of someone who’s physically overtly intimidating,” Natasha explained. “It’ll do you good to fight him.”

It took several weeks of practicing with Coulson before Natasha felt Skye was ready to fight Rumlow. 

The second Rumlow entered, Skye saw what Coulson had meant. Rumlow was massive and had a scary military-esque quality to him. “Holy shit,” Skye blurted out before her brain could catch up to her mouth. “What are you, like… 5% body fat?”

Rumlow laughed. “I don’t know if I should be insulted about the extra 1%. But I suppose I’ll let it go this time. Shall we?” 

Skye nodded, eyeing him tensely. They went to the sparring mats and Natasha rang a bell to tell them to start the fight. It wasn’t a quick fight, nor were any of the following bouts. Rumlow won most of the time, and Skye collapsed to the ground dramatically when Natasha finally declared them finished, but she felt like she sort-of almost held her own.

“Good job,” Rumlow praised.

Skye groaned. “Please don’t patronize me…”

Rumlow froze. “I wasn’t trying to…” he began.

“I know… I know I failed,” Skye cried. “I could barely get a proper punch in.”

“I know, you got three,” Rumlow marvelled, sounding stunned, but helping her up.

“That’s two more than most junior agents get in,” Natasha pointed out, tossing them both water bottles.

“Seriously?” Skye asked in disbelief.

“I’m not allowed to spar with the cadets any more,” Rumlow grumbled. “Fury said I crushed too many souls.”

“Not to mention the broken bones,” Natasha smirked.

“It’s their own fault,” Brock grunted. “They’re cocky little shits when they get out of cadet training. I only regret that we can’t get Widow here to take them down a peg or two. Say… what if we used…”

“That’s the plan,” Natasha noted. “Though the point is more to build her up rather than take them down. Though taking them down will be a nice benefit.”

“I could never,” Skye denied, appalled.

“You have to be able to, or else you won’t make a very good Ops agent,” Natasha pointed out. Skye was aware that Natasha was manipulating her, but she couldn’t help but cave. 

“We can go over the plan some other time,” Rumlow interjected. “Until next week?”

“Sure,” Skye agreed. “As long as you want to.”

“I look forward to it,” Rumlow grinned, cracking a smile before leaving.

"He's known around SHIELD as the office curmudgeon," Nat revealed, slightly stunned. "I've never even see him crack a smile, let alone indicate that he wanted to spend time with someone."

Skye settled into training with Rumlow two mornings a week as long as he wasn’t on a mission. No classes met before eight at Georgetown. It turned out Brock and Skye actually had a lot in common, being raised in the foster system and both having endured traumas, though Brock’s were more from his time in the SEALs.

Weeks flew by and Skye finished her first semester at Georgetown with a 4.0. While most students went home, she continued to take summer courses, determined to earn her degree as quickly as possible so that she could join SHIELD. 

She was still taking more than the normal limit, and she knew her parents would ask her to dial back if they thought it’d do anything.

Fitz had hit a wall on her car and was realizing that he didn’t know everything about how to upgrade a car. SHIELD documentation was less than thorough on a Volvo Station Wagon. Apparently, it wasn’t the most covert of cars and wasn’t commonly modified within SHIELD.

Thankfully, Izzy came up with a solution to the problem the week after Skye mentioned it during Gauntlet training. Towards the end of practice, a hulking man entered the gym. Skye prided herself in the fact that, for the first time, she didn’t run away, flinch or freeze when he entered the room. Instead, she kept one eye on him and one eye on LT as she sparred with her. She remained at the bottom of the roster skills-wise, but Skye was beginning to understand why Nat had wanted her to come. She was getting better.

“Mack!” Izzy greeted happily. Skye went back to her fight, trusting that Izzy wouldn’t bring anyone in who’d want to harm anyone, including her.

“Hey Iz,” he greeted with a smile. “Am I early?”

Izzy gave Natasha a look and Natasha rolled her eyes. “Fine, we can stop early,” Natasha groaned begrudgingly. Some of the others started to leave and Skye went to her workout bag and grabbed her water, then all but poured it over her head. She was working harder, now that Natasha had given her the skills that let her more easily hold her own against the others. They weren’t holding back as much either. It was hard to believe that a year ago she’d been scared of being in the same room as people like Coulson, Clint, and Rumlow. Now she was fighting them. 

“Hey Skye,” Izzy asked cautiously.

“Yeah?” Skye replied.

“This is Mack. I wanted to introduce you. I think he can help you with your… car issue.”

“What?” Skye asked, confused.

“Mack’s the best SHIELD mechanic I know,” Izzy explained.

“I just know my way around cars,” Mack admitted humbly. “I hear you have a Volvo?”

“Just an old Station Wagon,” Skye dismissed. “My friend and I are fixing her up… he’s a Mechanical Engineer, but he’s stuck.”

“I have a couple ideas of some improvements that could be made. When’s the next time you two are meeting to work on it?”

It took a little coordinating, but Mack and Skye scheduled a time when they could all meet so Mack could look at the car. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye competes against other Ops cadets for the first time, Fitz meets someone who he takes an interest in, and Brock has a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all. Thanks for the excellent reviews. And thanks to the greatest beta of all time, Lady Winterlight.

A month had passed since she’d met Mack through Izzy. They got along fairly well, and spent a good deal of time on her station wagon. In the meantime, Skye’d gotten several sessions in with both Coulson and Brock, and she was slowly getting used to fighting men. Still, the day that Natasha announced a change in Skye’s routine threw her a bit.

“You’re doing something different tomorrow,” Natasha announced. “You’re going to join the Ops PT class.”

“What? No! I can’t. I’m not ready,” Skye objected.

“You are,” Natasha reassured her, nodding. “You no longer flinch every time Brock or Coulson enter the gym and you’re using your hyperawareness to your advantage, not letting the panic overwhelm you.”

Skye remained unconvinced. "You are,” Brock cut in, backing up the statement. “Skye, if you’re going into Ops, you have to be comfortable with this sort of thing.”

“But I’m only good against people who will hold back,” Skye argued.

Rumlow sat down next to Skye. “I want to promise you something, Skye.” he said. “Are you ready for it?”

“Um… okay…”

“I’m not going to ever lie to you,” he promised. “No matter what happens, I’ll always tell you the truth.”

“Okay,” Skye repeated uncomfortably.

“You’re ready for the Ops PT,” Brock promised.

“But isn’t that just for Ops cadets and agents?” she asked.

“That’s usually who shows up, but there’s no rule against you going. I just want to see how you do against other cadets,” Natasha advised.

“They’ll all probably beat me,” Skye murmured.

“That’s okay,” Nat assured her. “I just need to see a couple things that I can’t see when you’re by yourself. Just remember to do your best.”

Skye reminded herself of that as she was surrounded by Ops agents the next day while warming up. The obstacle course that SHIELD trained people on was changeable and involved a one-mile run before hand. After the run, they had a scant few seconds to stretch out. Skye could see that the obstacles were a combination of some of the hardest Skye had ever faced on the course. 

“You a new recruit?” the guy next to her demanded. 

“Nope,” Skye said, deepening the stretch. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” he continued, pressing for an answer.

“I’m usually here at other times,” she faltered. 

“So are you a cadet or an agent?”

“Level 2,” Skye supplied, starting to stretch her upper body.

“I don’t remember you from the Academy,” the man retorted. “I’m Grant Ward.”

“Skye,” Skye introduced. “I work in Comms.”

Ward stiffened. “I’m sorry, I thought you said you were an Comms agent. This workout is for Operations only.” His tone indicated he clearly seemed to think this would be too hard for her.

“There’s no rule against it,” Skye dismissed with a shrug.

“You’ll drive down the group average,” Ward urged presumptively.

Skye felt herself getting mad. “Who says  _ you _ won’t be the one to do that?” she pointed out.

Ward snorted. “Me? Apart from the fact that I’m the one to beat and Instructors tell me that they haven’t seen numbers like mine since Romanov? There’s no way you’d beat me.”

“You got money to support that mouth on you?” Skye snapped. “$50 says I beat you.”

“I’ll take that action,” Ward agreed.

“Ward, come on. You’re up,” the course master called. Ward strode forward and started the task. Ward wasn’t lying - he was very good. Skye hadn’t known what had inspired her to make the bet, but the idea of her wiping the stupid grin off of Ward’s stupid face was an attractive one. Skye didn’t pay attention to how Ward finished. She instead started meditating the way Dr. Wells and Māmā had taught her, visualizing her winning against Ward.

“Beat that,” Ward spat, coming back as he panted. 

“Agent Skye, you’re up!” The course master called. He gave her a reassuring smile as she stepped up and zeroed in on her goal. The second she heard the tone indicating she should start, she was off. For the first time, she wasn’t thinking about the individual obstacles, but merely her end goal. Getting there was the only important thing in that moment. Nothing else mattered. Her muscle memory took over and she cleared each course without thinking about it.

She was panting heavily, her vision slightly blurry from sweat getting in her eyes, by the time she was finished. She barely heard “New Course Record!” being declared by the course master. She  _ did _ hear it though. In a split second she realized the significance of training with Nat for the last year. 

Catching her breath, she straightened up and walked back to her spot next to Ward. Everyone was staring at her as she caught her breath and her vision cleared. The Course Master had a shit-eating grin on his face and Skye winked at him.

“But…” Ward said. “You’re  _ Comms _ . You’re just a geek.”

“Haven’t you heard, Agent Ward?” Skye asked snidely. “It’s the age of the geek. We run the world.“

“Dude, did anyone get video of that?” one of the cadets whispered.

Skye knew SHIELD did for official purposes. Natasha would be receiving a copy once she got back from her mission. But if anyone else got their hands on it it might go viral through SHIELD.

“Agent Marshall,” the course master said, ignoring the comments behind him. “You’re up.”

Sparring was next. Within Ops PT classes, they did a tournament between the students. Skye quickly took down each of her opponents, until it was just her against Ward. “Seriously,” Ward inquired curiously, no longer looking angry at her. In fact, he looked rather… attracted. “Why aren’t you in Operations?”

“I have to finish college first,” Skye explained. “In a year or two, I should finish and qualify, based on SHIELD’s minimum requirements for agents.”

“So you’re working at SHIELD while going to school?” Ward puzzled. “What, is Fury your uncle or something?”

“I’m an orphan,” Skye divulged. It wasn’t true, and the instant she said it, she wanted to take it back. She just didn’t like the idea that Ward would see her family as an explanation as to how she was so good. She had worked hard to get where she was. She wanted to be the one who was given the credit. She didn’t want the other low-level agents to say that it was just because of her family that she was allowed to be there.

Ward looked interested in that and seemed like he was about to say something, but at the last second decided against it. 

Another cadet came up to her, one of the ones she’d laid out in under a minute. “Girl, you’ve got some killer moves,” he bubbled with a easy-going smile.

“You’re not bad yourself,” Skye said, nodding.

“You still kicked my ass,” he said. “I’m Antoine Triplett. Friends call me Trip.”

“Skye,” Skye replied, smiling at the friendly stranger. He had an easy-going air to him, which was rare amongst agents at SHIELD.

“You pick those moves up from anyone in particular, Skye?” Trip asked.

“I’ve got a few friends who know how to handle themselves,” Skye remarked with a shrug. “I grew up in foster care and they knew I ran into trouble with foster parents sometimes. After I ran off when I was sixteen, they made sure I could handle myself.”

“The way you fight, they’re experts at martial arts, MMA, and boxing,” Trip affirmed with a smile. Ward gave Trip an odd look. “I’m glad to know you can handle yourself.”

“One of each. My best friend growing up was the son of this old school boxer in Hell’s Kitchen.” Skye recalled. “He taught me everything he could about how to lay a guy out. I used it a couple of times back when I was living on the street.”

Ward and Trip both looked shocked at Skye. “You were homeless?” Ward inquired. “How’d SHIELD find you?”

“I hacked it,” Skye snickered. “Apparently they were impressed that I could do it at my age, so they offered me a job and an opportunity to go through.”

“You hacked SHIELD?” Trip wondered. “I thought that’s supposed to be impossible.”

“That’s what they tell us,” Ward confirmed, staring at Skye suspiciously.

“You guys are cadets?” Skye queried, hopeful to get off this line of questioning.

“Recently graduated,” Ward confirmed for himself.

“I’m not even a cadet,” Trip declared.

“What?” Skye asked curiously.

“I’m currently a part of pilot program SHIELD has with the Armed forces,” Trip explained. “They’re training five of us, and the military’s training five of yours. I actually leave tomorrow for debrief and deployment, so this is actually my last day.”

“I see,” Skye accepted softly. “Anyway, I should get going. I’m on my lunch break and I’ve got to get back for a meeting.”

“See you next time,” Ward contributed, cheerful once more.

“Yeah,” Skye vacilitated. “And… it was nice to meet you Trip.”

“See you around sometime, girl,” Trip beamed.

“Yeah?” Skye prompted.

“Someday I’ll be a cadet,” Trip confirmed. “I hope we’ll get to meet again.”

Skye couldn’t help but smile. “Well, you seem sure of yourself.”

Trip laughed. “Is it working? I mean if I asked you out…”

Skye immediately cooled. “Not interested, Sorry.”

Trip shrugged, unbothered. Skye felt herself relax significantly. “Can’t blame a guy for asking.”

Skye blushed deeply. “It’s just… not the right time for that sort of… I mean…”

Trip smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he reassured her, clear understanding written on his face. “My ego isn’t so big I can’t take no for an answer. But if you’re still single when I come back… do you mind if I ask again?”

Skye nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. Would she be ready in a year? Or two? “I wouldn’t mind,” she finally admitted softly. She was surprised she’d spoken the truth, she normally wasn’t so forthcoming about her attractions, but something about Trip made her instincts trust him.

“Glad to hear it,” Trip grinned warmly. He pulled out a small business card. “My email address… if you ever want to remind me that you handed me my ass.” Skye couldn’t help but laugh.

Ward looked rather irritated. “I thought you said you had to get back to work. I don’t think your supervisor would like it if you were here flirting instead.”

Skye immediately went red. “Yeah… I’ll… um… I’ll do that,” she stammered before bolting back to her desk. 

A pattern emerged in the following weeks. Skye still trained with Natasha on Saturdays with the Gauntlet, and on Sundays with Clint, but her PT time during the week was now spent with Rumlow three times a week in the morning and twice a week on her lunch with Ops training. Ward seemed to wind up her sparring partner on more than one occasion, and when he wasn’t he’d stare at her to a level that bordered on creepy. He was clearly impressed by her abilities and rather jealous that she was easily beating him out as the best in the class. 

Something inside of Skye gave her the impression that something was off about Ward, so when he pressed her for information about herself, she kept it limited to her pre-SHIELD life. Twice she spotted him following her around, and Skye started to debate telling Nat about it. The thing was, she didn’t want retaliation for it, she just wanted him to stop.

Finally she caved and set up a meeting with Ward’s SO, John Garrett.

“What can I do for you?” Garrett said when she entered the office.

Skye shifted nervously at the door. “I’ve been attending the same Ops training as one of your cadets... Ward?” Garrett grunted. “I’ve… uh… noticed that he’s been kinda following me.”

Garrett froze. “Really?” he queried, tone a mix of shocked and curious.

“I didn’t have the best childhood,” Skye admitted, now embarrassed and more nervous than when she started. “It gave me a pretty good skill set to… notice… certain things.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Garrett assured her, nodding. “He won’t do it again.”

“Thank you.”

Skye didn’t see Ward again, except for Ops PT, and he apologized to her. Skye told Ward that she accepted the apology, but she still kept an eye on him. She didn’t trust Ward and wasn’t about to simply take him at his word. June then flew by, as Skye was mostly working with Jo or Fitz, either on their SHIELD project or her car. She spent time with Jo, mostly over internet chat

“So what happened with your stalker?” Jo asked. Jo was the only person who knew that Ward had been tracking her and had been sworn to secrecy. Jo had been unhappy with Skye’s request but respected it.

“I talked to his SO. He apologized and said won’t do it again,” Skye explained.

“Good. I still say you let me cut off his-”

“Not necessary, Jo,” Skye wanted to get off the topic as quickly as possible. “Now I looked over the current section you’re working on and I spotted a few errors. Did you see my email?”

“Yeah, let me share my screen…”

They worked on the project for several hours before Skye went back home for dinner with her parents and homework for classes. 

Skye didn’t always make it home for dinner with Māmā and Dad, but she tried her best to. It was a nice feeling, having someone to go home to. Skye wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere, and she knew her parents weren’t either, but the universe had always seemed against Skye and even though she’d been ‘home’ for a year and a half, there was a part of her that was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was a piece that got smaller every day, but it was still there.

Occasionally, Skye’s insecurities reared their ugly head. “It’s no big deal,” Skye dismissed to her parents when the topic of the dorms was broached. “I’d be moving out anyway.”

“Excuse me?” Māmā accused.

“I just mean… I turn eighteen in January… and I figured you’d… you know… want your lives back.”

“Skye Qiaolian Garner-May,” Skye winced at the use of all three names. Māmā knelt next to her and offered her hand to hold. Skye took it. “You will always have a home here. If you really want to live on your own, I suppose your Dad and I will figure something out, but it’s your choice.”

“I know,” Skye said in a small voice, not willing to admit that she’d doubted it.

“Besides, once you’ve graduated and become an agent you may want to live in the Agent dorms, and those are better than the University dorms.”

“I know,” Skye admitted. “I just… some part of me just wants the college experience. I’m on track to graduate when I’m 20, sure, but I want to be able to spend at least two years in the dorms. There are a couple of other seventeen year olds at Georgetown and they’re in dorms…” Skye tried her best not to whine.

“So you want to live in the dorms in the fall?” Andrew asked.

Skye nodded. “I mean, I’d want to come home every weekend, especially since I have training with Nat and family night on Fridays and I’d miss you if I couldn’t come… home.” She had long since thought of the Garner-May residence as her home, but this was the first verbal acknowledgement she had uttered of it being her home. 

“You’ll always be welcome here,” Melinda reassured her.

Andrew smiled and put a hand on Skye’s shoulder. She didn’t even flinch and instead put her hand over her father’s. “We’re your family, Skye. And you’re ours. Nothing can ever change that.”

“Good,” Skye whispered, her doubt diminishing “And with that settled, it’s movie night. So someone order us pizza.”

Her Māmā looked perturbed, but there was no fire behind the look while her Dad laughed loudly before heading for the phone.

“Come on, Māmā, we don’t eat junk  _ that _ often,” Skye teased.

“I know, little one,” Melinda breathed, stroking Skye’s hair with a good-natured smile. “But it would not be home if I didn’t annoy you two about it.”

Skye smiled, then became somber at a stray thought that crossed her mind. “Do you ever wonder?” she asked. 

“Wonder what?” Melinda inquired. Her back was turned to Skye as she’d set to pulling the pillows from the couch to the floor.

“Wonder what would have happened if you’d found me sooner?” 

Melinda froze and turned to face Skye. “Yes,” She admitted.

“Do you think…” Skye couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence, but Melinda seemed to know where it was going anyway.

Melinda gathered Skye in her arms and they sat on the floor among the pillows and blankets. “I was twenty-five when you were brought in by that agent. A Level 2 and Nick was my SO. Had they gone through proper channels… it’s possible I may have never known about it, but I like to think I would have. And Andrew or not, I like to think I would have seen you and seen exactly what I saw when I saw you in that SHIELD hospital bed.”

Skye blinked at Melinda curiously. “Really?”

Melinda nodded. “You needed help, and I was able to give it. I would have given it to you then too.”

Skye snuggled further into Melinda’s arms. “I’m sorry you didn’t find me sooner, Māmā,” she admitted.

“Me too, little one, me too…”

“Frank says our pizzas are already enroute,” Andrew interrupted, coming in with soda for Skye, a La Croix for Melinda, and a beer for himself.

“Guess we’re kinda predictable on Fridays, huh?” Skye chuckled with a smile. 

“Don’t knock it,” Andrew drawled, settling into his leather recliner good naturedly. 

“Never,” Skye confirmed with a grin.

“So is this cuddle party invitation only or can anyone join in?” Andrew asked.

Skye looked at her parents and smiled. “I think we have room for one more,” she noted.

It was the best family night that they’d had in a long time. All the family nights were good, but Andrew had some pretty spectacular Summer-themed old movies. That night, Skye was introduced to  _ The Seven Year Itch _ ,  _ Summerstock _ , and the old version of  _ The Parent Trap _ .

Skye admitted to no one that she actually loved movie night so much that she had gotten into Melinda’s and Andrew’s music collections, and while Andrew’s collection was pretty typical of the man, Melinda’s was… not. Andrew had CDs of bands that were now considered greats and had made the Top 100 charts during Andrew’s childhood. Alternatively, Melinda had an odd mixture of Classical music and 70s Punk Rock, most of which were bands Skye’d never heard of on beat up old tapes that looked like they’d been sold out of the trunk of a car. Also in Melinda’s collection was a truly impressive amount of bootlegged content.

Skye fell asleep in her mother’s arms, completely content with her life.

\--------

A month passed. Skye’s parents made her take time off during 4th of July weekend so that she could have a break and they spent the weekend hanging out on the beach in South Carolina. It was a nice break, but Skye was happy to get back to coding for SHIELD with Jo and training with the Gauntlet ladies, and Clint and Nat and Brock.

Clint had actually moved her to fighting with and throwing small knives for accuracy, but he didn’t stick just to weighted ones.

“Butter knives?” she blurted out uncertainly. “Really?”

“You have to be able to use what’s in your environment as a good SHIELD Agent,” Clint informed her. “Besides, butter knives are notoriously incorrectly weighted and bad for throwing. So if you can throw a butter knife accurately, the others won’t be so hard.”

“You come up with that all by yourself?” Skye snarked.

“Nope,” Clint admitted easily. “Dodgeball was on TV last night.”

Skye rolled her eyes, but set to learning the lesson put in front of her. She was already fairly adept at the bow and arrows, and had apparently impressed even Fury with her skill with a sniper rifle, so Clint would just make small comments from time to time, giving her tips.

Eventually, she got the hang of it enough that she could practice on her own.

“Your aim’s gotten pretty good,” Clint praied when they were cleaning up. “Next week we’re going to start you on being able to do that without looking at the target.”

“Really?” Skye asked. She’d seen Clint do it. She never thought she’d get to that level.

“Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it,” Clint promised. “You’re ready.”

It was easier said than done. Learning how to aim without looking out the target was hard, and Skye didn't hit the target right away, but she got close. Clint seemed to be proud of her, which made Skye proud of herself.

Brock had also noted that she was improving, but quickly located another issue. “You wanna grab breakfast at the commissary before you go to class?” Brock asked.

“Sure,” Skye confirmed easily. “You leave today, right?”

Brock nodded. “Debrief at 0900. Barton or Romanov will take over your workouts while I'm gone.”

Skye nodded. “You'll be safe out there?” she asked, worriedly. 

“You can't save the world being safe, Skye,” Brock commented. He caught the look on her face and sighed heavily. “I’ll be as careful as I can, I promise.”

“Good,” Skye said. “People care about you here, Brock. I’ve lost a lot in my life and I don’t want to lose anyone else I… love… unnecessarily.” It was a big moment, for Skye to verbalize how she felt about Brock and Nat and Clint and the Gauntlet and Bobbi and Hunter, but she felt that she needed to for some reason.

“What are you going to be working on this week?” Brock queried, looking rather… unreadable as he changed the subject.

“Well, my station wagon is getting the bullet-proof glass installed this week,” she explained. “Fitz wants to go over what I want to do with the back. I’m thinking computer monitors in the trunk’s back panel, a server, hard drive, and cooling system under the bench seat… maybe an AI if I can somehow figure out a way to build on…”

“You know basic car maintenance, right?” Brock questioned idly.

Skye hesitated. “What?”

Brock turned and faced her, looking shocked. “You know, oil changes, tires, spark plugs?” he extrapolated further as Skye met him with a stunned look. Car maintenance hadn’t even occurred to her and Fitz.

“Ummmm,” she hesitated uncomfortably. She didn’t, but she didn’t want to admit it. 

“You aren’t driving that car until you do,” Brock demanded protectively. “I can teach you.”

That’s how Skye found herself hunched over her station wagon’s engine as Brock went over how to do an oil change two weeks later.

“Where’d you learn all this?” Skye asked curiously as Brock went over alternatives to use since her car would be a biodiesel/solar run car. Keeping the engine running smoothly was important.

“Cute English gal in Australia.” Rumlow revealed. “Said it was basic ‘bush mechanics’ and that everyone should know these kinds of thing.”

Skye rolled her eyes. His stories always revolved around women from his past. “You sleep with her?”

Brock smirked. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

Skye laughed. “Well, I’m glad you’re teaching me,” she approved. She looked up when someone came in; Fitz entered as Brock started wiping oil from his hands on a dirty rag. Fitz had gone red.

“I also learned from this guy named Mack who’s basically like the Mechanic version of you, so he gets stationed a lot of different places.”

“I know Mack!” Skye exclaimed. “He’s going to convert my car when he has time.”

“Glad to hear it,” Rumlow chuckled with a grim smile, tossing the rag aside and nodding acknowledgement towards Fitz. ’“See you later Skye,” Rumlow said with an unreadable second look at Fitz. “Next week I’ll show you how to change a spark plug.”

Fitz stared at Rumlow as he left, his jaw slack. “Fitz, you okay?”

“Oh… I’m gay. I’m sooooo gay,” Fitz moaned, leaning against a work table after making sure Rumlow had left.

“Seriously? I thought you had a thing for Jemma?” Skye asked, rather shocked at Fitz’s sudden admission. 

“I… I thought I did. But then…”

“I don’t wanna hear this, do I…”

“I’ve never felt like this before… I want him to do whatever he wants to me… I want him to…”

Skye rushed him, covering Fitz’s mouth with her hand. “Don’t… finish that sentence.” she demanded.

“Sorry,” Fitz apologized, blushing profusely as his brain reconnected to his mouth.

“You know, I could introduce you,” Skye suggested. “You could always ask if he’d be interested in… whatever you’re into.”

“Oh no, I could never… he’d never,” Fitz squeaked, going red again.

“You never know until you ask,” Skye cajoled. “Do you want to stop pretending to date?” 

“Yeah… I think… I think I do,” Fitz stammered. “I mean… I mean if you’re okay with it.”

“We can still hang out as friends,” Skye confirmed happily, turning to leave. “But I’ll spread the word that we ‘broke up’. Just… just to give you fair warning… Rumlow has a reputation around SHIELD. As a playboy. A straight one.”

Fitz nodded. “I’m always attracted to people that I can’t have…” he admitted softly. “It’s okay. I’m… I’m okay. I just can’t… pretend now that I’m aware.”

Skye went over and hugged him tightly. “You’re going to find someone who is going to love you as much as I do and more. Because that’s what you deserve Leopold Fitz.” Skye blinked slowly, suddenly two things in her brain connected. She didn’t deserve the things that happened to her. She deserved what she was receiving. She deserved love.

Skye’s and Fitz’s break up apparently was bigger news than she anticipated. Skye’s Gauntlet friends took her out for ice cream after practice and pressed her for details, even though Skye remained tight lipped.

In the weeks leading up to Jemma’s and Fitz’s transfer to the Hub in September, Jemma was pretty obviously avoiding Skye, and the fact that Fitz and Skye could still be seen around the Triskellion together drew the eye of many curious people.

Fitz, thankfully, was willing to laugh off the reaction, so Skye didn’t read too much into the situation. The only person she felt obligated to tell the truth to who didn’t already know what was happening to Fitz was Dr. Wells.

“Fitz… discovered that he had a type, and I didn’t fit that category,” Skye revealed at their weekly session. “Given that I’m not male.”

“How does that make you feel?” Dr. Wells prompted.

Skye shrugged, then remembered that Dr. Wells had asked her to start trying to give verbal answers to big questions like this. “I mean, I’ve known for a long time that Fitz wasn’t my type. And there was that thing with Trip…” Skye had shared the interaction with both Ward and Trip with Dr. Wells, who’d praised her for identifying her  _ instincts _ made her nervous around Ward, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he meant her harm.

“What does that mean to you?” Dr. Wells pressed again. 

“I have no idea,” Skye admitted. 

“I think it means you're ready for actual relationships within your age group rather than simulated ones.”

Skye paled. “I'm not ready to date yet,” Sky babbled in a panic.

“That's okay,” Dr. Wells reassured her. “What’s important right now is that you aren’t doing anything because you feel like you’re being pressured into it. Wait until you’re sure that you’re dating because  _ you _ want to, not anyone else  It might end up being Trip that you date, it might not. The important thing is having the tools to recognize your boundaries.”

Skye couldn't help but feel rather empowered by herself, even further proof that she was ready for college dorm life. She probably wouldn't be a party person, and there was a higher than likely chance that she'd be a bad roommate with her nightmares, but she was no longer yelling when she had them, or at least she didn't most of the time.

She still usually spent an hour or so awake after a bad dream, mostly coding, but sometimes she'd go into the basement and run it off. She didn't know if that'd be an option in the dorms, but the school gym was always an option. Or calisthenics. Regardless, she didn't want someone lacking sleep because she was awake. 

She'd mentioned her concern to Natasha, who simply said it had already been addressed. Still, Skye was nervous as she got her dorm assignment and Melinda and Natasha took her shopping.

As summer drew to a close, the Ops cadets and lower level agents decided they needed to have a party to mark the occasion. It took some doing, but Skye convinced them to make it open to all levels and all departments. The party took place at one of the pools that were at the Triskellion. Skye wasn't sure what it was used for, until Clint gave her the truth. 

“Right before Ops cadets graduate, they have to run a mission that involves an underwater rescue of a fellow agent. Rumlow’s usually the victim because he was a SEAL. Lower level agents do all sorts of drills in that pool.”

“Cool,” Skye exclaimed. 

Clint laughed. “Glad to know drowning isn't one of your fears we need to work on.”

Skye shifted her weight. “I mean, I don't actually know how to swim,” she admitted. 

Clint nodded. “Andrew can teach you if you want. He's apparently better than the rest of us. Used to swim in college, apparently.”

Skye shook her head and smiled. She still sometimes wondered how she got so lucky to have landed where she did. It seemed like everyone around her had something specific to teach her, and all of them were teaching her how to trust again. “I'll ask him tonight,” Skye confirmed. 

Andrew couldn’t teach her much before the party, but he did teach her how to float and dog paddle in case of an emergency. Then the last thing Skye had to do was get Fitz and Rumlow to come to the party so she could shove both of in a closet until they admitted the truth to each other. “No one wants an old Level 7 agent to one of those things, Skye,” Rumlow grumbled as he showed her how to change a tire.

“Please?” Skye begged. 

“I have plans,” Rumlow denied. 

“You ever date other agents?” Skye pivoted. 

Rumlow paused. “What do you mean?”

“It's just a question,” Skye assured him, trying to look innocent.

Rumlow shook his head. “Don’t do this Skye.”

“Don’t do what?” Maybe the innocence thing was failing her. Something to work on with Natasha, perhaps. 

“I’d be no good for him. Plus I’m far too old.” Skye did her best not to react. So Rumlow was bisexual after all, perhaps?

“He’s eighteen,” Skye pointed out. “Which means he’s a consenting adult. And he seems to like you.”

“He likes how I look. Don’t think I didn’t notice him staring at me every time I come in here and he’s here too.”

“So… you like his look?”

“It doesn’t matter. He won’t like how I live. He won’t enjoy how I relax.”

“You can’t know that. You don’t even know him.”

“I have very particular habits, Skye.” Skye’s eyes went wide when she realized what Brock wasn’t saying. She’d heard rumors about these types. They were the stories older kids told little kids in the foster system to scare them. “Skye? You okay?”

“You promised me once… you said you’d never lie to me, right?” she whispered.

“I did,” Brock nodded, standing from the tire he’d been kneeling next to.

Skye very slowly started to back off. “You’re… you’re not into anything… underaged?”

Brock immediately flinched back looking like he’d been scalded. “No,” he cringed, with such conviction and lack of hesitation that Skye couldn’t help but feel reassured. “God, Skye, never. Not into that or nonconsent. Everyone I get together with knows what they’re getting into, contract and all.”

Skye relaxed, though she didn’t want to know what a contract had to do with all of this and she wasn’t going to be thinking too hard on the subject. “Thank god,” she exhaled.

“You ever…” Brock asked. 

Skye hesitantly nodded. “Not by choice,” she admitted. 

“I’m sorry,” Brock apologized. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“No one does,” Skye acknowledged.

“Now I get why Romanov and Barton are so protective of you,” Brock noted.

“Protective? What are you talking about?” Skye asked.

“I was on the receiving end of two shovel talks when I started spending more time with you,” Brock said.

“I’m sorry. They’re just… afraid sometimes,” Skye apologized. “A lot happened to me as a kid and they don’t want to see me having to go through more.”

“I know the feeling.” She gave him a sharp look. “I feel the same way.”

Skye blushed at that. Wondering how she’d gotten so lucky to build such a circle of good-hearted people. “You have to have some sort of a social life, Brock, you have to come. I’ll make sure Fitz is there.”

“I’m sorry Skye. Next time, I promise.”

Skye was a bit bummed, but she’d convinced Fitz and Jemma to come with her. Not long after they arrived at the party, they heard a voice. “Well, now that you’re here, this thing just got interesting,” someone said. Skye smiled as one of Rumlow’s friends approached Jemma. 

“Hi Jack,” Skye said. “This is Fitz and…”

“Jemma Simmons,” Jemma introduced, going pink and extending her hand to shake it.

“Enchanté de vous rencontrer,” Jack purred, taking the hand and turning it so he could kiss her knuckles. “Madame, can I interest you in a glass of SHIELD’s finest punch?”

Jemma went bright red, but managed to nod. Rollins offered her his arm and Jemma took it, walking off with them. “Have fun Jemma!” Skye called, laughing.

Skye and Fitz people watched, smiling and laughing. Fitz went and got them punch, which was spiked so Skye didn't have more than a few sips. Unfortunately, Fitz got a little overly-excited about his first official SHIELD party and got well and truly drunk. In fact, Skye was trying to figure out how to get Fitz away from the party before he got alcohol poisoning when Rumlow appeared at her shoulder. 

Skye didn't question the appearance in the moment. “Thank god,” Skye cried, shoving Fitz at him.

Fitz licked his lips. “You're strong,” Fitz slurred, too quietly for anyone else to hear. “Strong n’ firm. This shirt made of boyfriend material?”

“Skye,” Brock growled questioningly, trying to back away from Fitz nervously. 

“Don't look at me,” Skye protested as she scanned the room again for Jemma. When she didn't see her, she sent her a text and got a response to go without her with Jemma’s previously agreed upon safe word. “He's been mooning after you since you met. Jemma says she’s sleeping in the dorms tonight, so we're good to go.”

It was ten minutes before they got to Brock’s on-base apartment. Brock supported Fitz who was still clinging to him while Skye followed them in. Brock’s apartment was frankly a lot more… domestic than she expected. It was a nice apartment. One bedroom with a small office off to the side and space for a kitchen, living room, and dining table. There was even a freaking lace circle-thing on the table.

A cat came out of the office and to Skye’s great surprise hopped on the table. Brock laid Fitz carefully on the bed in his bedroom, turned on his side with a blanket over him. Brock came back out and instantly went for the cat. “Hey baby,” Brock said affectionately. The cat purred and nuzzled Brock’s hand and arm. “How was your evening?”

“You have a cat?” Skye asked in shock.

Brock nodded. “Skye, this is Khan. Khan, this is Skye.”

Skye held her knuckles out for Khan to smell them. Khan did so, then hopped off the table and wandered off.

“You don’t strike me as the type to have a cat,” Skye doubted.

Brock shrugged. “Part of it’s the lifestyle,” he admitted. “I can’t very well have a dog that needs walking three times a day when I can be gone for weeks at a time, it’s cruel. If I am gone, Chris down in Agent Training takes Khan to her house. She has six other cats, so doesn’t mind.”

Skye knew about Chris. She was an African-American, heavily tattooed, pierced biker chick who specialized in weapons training, particularly in martial arts weapons and swords. Ops Agents were always taking refresher courses, and some of the stuff was either too classified or too specialized for cadets to take so those courses, like the ones Chris taught, were offered at the Triskellion. Skye had talked to her a few times while she worked on her Station Wagon and Chris was working on her motorcycle. Skye had brought up the idea of her getting one, but her parents had immediately nixed the idea, her Māmā calling them ‘donor-cycles’.

At the thought of her parents, Skye slipped out her phone and texted them she had reached Rumlow’s. “So, we gonna talk about your crush and how you swooped in like you were Captain America?” Skye asked.

“Nope,” Brock said shortly, getting two sheets, blankets and pillows each for them. “I’ve got the floor.”

“Oh come on!” Skye objected. “You just appeared out of nowhere, which means you were there or you were watching from somewhere. You owe me more than that or else Fitz is gonna find out that you like him.”

“No,” Brock denied.

“Sorry. Was that that no you don’t owe me or no you won’t tell me?”

“No, you won’t tell him,” Brock ordered. “He’s too young. From what you tell me he’s only just come out. I shouldn’t be his first.”

“Why not?” Skye questioned. “What’s wrong with having both a first and a last in one person?”

“Because that’s not how it works. He deserves someone who will get married, have kids, buy a house with a white picket fence. I can’t give him that. I’m married to SHIELD.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone else give someone that much and that little credit at the same time,” Skye argued flatly, her tongue by the less than a glass of alcohol she’d consumed.

“I’m sorry?” Brock challenged, taken aback.

“Fitz is a grown man,” she argued. “He can make decisions for himself. He doesn’t need anyone to baby him. He should be allowed to be given a choice.”

“That’s not how it works in my world,” Brock confessed softly.

Skye stared at Brock for a moment, debating. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a Dom,” Brock explained. 

“I know,” Skye blushed.

“In my world, a sub gives up his power to choose until he safewords that it’s time to stop or slow down. It’s a trust thing. Having a sub means that someone trusts you enough to make all the decisions. Safe, sane, and consensual.”

“But that’s after you’re in a relationship, right?”

“Right,” Brock confirmed.

“Look… you should talk to him, that’s all I’m saying.”

“I’ll think about it,” Brock sighed. “Only because you won’t shut up about it unless I agree to do so.” They watched TV after that for about an hour, then went to bed, Brock sleeping on the floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the woman Brock mentioned is who you think it is.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye moves into a dorm room, turns seventeen, and Ward tells Skye the truth.

The next morning, Fitz avoided eye contact with Brock over breakfast, but Skye repeatedly caught him staring at Brock when he thought no one was looking.

Skye smirked into her eggs and coffee, then grabbed her bags and headed to class. By the time she got home the next evening, she had processed what Brock had told her and was determined to get the two together.

Every opportunity she had, she bugged Fitz or Brock about the other person. Brock was too stubborn to admit anything to Fitz while Fitz refused to meet Brock’s eye. This, of course, didn’t stop Fitz from leaving heavily notated bondage gear magazines and dog-eared BDSM books around the workstation if he knew Brock would be there, to Skye’s absolute horror. Somehow Fitz must have overheard Skye’s conversation with Brock.

Still, Brock was determined to think that his life wasn’t a life that Fitz wanted and it was just a phase the young man was going through. Fitz meanwhile was absolutely taken by the subculture. He peppered Skye with facts and figures of things that she had never really even wanted to know. Some of the stuff didn’t actually seem all that bad, while others were things that Skye wouldn’t do for any amount of money on Earth.

Fitz at least seemed to learn the topics that Skye was uncomfortable with and avoided them, but Fitz being Fitz, he was always reading and always sharing what he’d learned. He even kept a contract, signed and waiting for when Brock finally caved. 

After repeatedly asking and begging Fitz to just ask Brock out already, Skye gave up and left it alone. She wasn’t going to be able to resolve this particular issue by talking either Brock or Fitz into actually speaking to each other. They were going to need external influence.

The next two weeks passed faster than she anticipated, then Skye blinked and she was all packed up and moving into the Georgetown dorms.

Somehow, Skye wound up with a single, though she suspected Nat or Fury had something to do with that. The dorm came with a single loft bed with a desk. She brought in a full fridge and a microwave, since she wouldn’t always be around during ‘meal times’ for the dorm cafeteria. 

Each of her family members slipped her something, too. Andrew slipped her money, Nat slipped her a fake ID. Hunter slipped her a British Passport and a list of contact numbers she could call for help if she ever needed to get out of the country.

She got a pair of practice shock sticks from Bobbi and Skye looked up at Bobbi, stunned. Bobbi smiled. “You’ve got Clint’s skill pretty well under your belt. And Nat’s gonna keep working with you on hand-to-hand and manipulation until you get an SO, but we want to train you in as many skills as possible. Just wait until we get to the baseball bat.”

“Baseball bat?” Skye squeaked.

“It’s important to know how to fight with any weapon you might encounter,” Bobbi pointed out. Skye remembered Clint saying something similar. 

Melinda went last, handing over stuffed bear. Skye recognized it as Bucky Bear. She’d always wanted one as a kid but no one had ever given her one. They were too expensive, or out of stock, or in a couple of placements ‘not an appropriate plaything for a young lady.’

“Māmā?” Skye looked at Melinda questioningly.

“Thought it was about time you have one,” Melinda said with a grin. 

“Bucky Bear?” Clint asked.

Skye smiled. “Bucky was always the coolest Commando. I always wanted a Bucky Bear but never got one. But... the others might make fun of me for having a stuffed animal.”

Melinda bit her lip. “I’m sorry Skye, I didn’t think of that. I could take it home if you’d like.”

“No,” Skye shouted, pulling Bucky Bear towards her chest. She blushed. “I mean… I’m okay, even if they do.”

Everyone smiled softly. For a moment.

“Well, I have to get going,” Bobbi sighed. “I’ve got a briefing at 2100.”

“And we were gonna have dinner first,” Hunter added.

“Okay,” Skye effused, hugging them both. “Stay safe out there. Don’t die, yeah? Someone has to teach me how to use those.” She indicated the sticks on her bed.

“I’ll be back,” Bobbi reassured them. “It’s just a milk run.”

“It’s the milk runs that always make me the most nervous,” Skye admitted. “Just be careful?”

“I will,” Bobbi confirmed. “Have fun, okay?”

“Don’t I always?” Hunter snarked.

“Jerk,” Bobbi snorted good naturedly.

“Get out of here,” Skye prompted, smiling. “The sooner you leave, the sooner you’re back.”

“I need to head out too,” Clint asserted.

Melinda snorted. “You just got back from a mission this morning. Where do you have to be?”

“I have things to do…” Clint hedged unconvincingly. Not for the first time did Skye wish she could tell her parents about Laura and Cooper. 

“Mel,” Andrew interjected. Melinda looked at him and they shared one of their wordless conversations

“We should all go,” Melinda agreed. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Natasha added with a wink to Skye.

“And us on Sunday, baby girl,” Andrew reminded Skye, hugging her.

And just like that, Skye was alone. She had been afraid it would feel like it had back when she was in foster care, being left. But it didn’t. She was getting older, but her family still had her back.  _ Quite literally _ , Skye thought, noting the four pinhole security cameras at various points in her dorm room. She was willing to bet Nat would be reviewing the footage every week.

She sat down, her door open, and started to work ahead on her homework per the syllabi she’d been emailed.

“Skye!” came the familiar voice of Cindi, one of her study group members from the previous semester. Cindi was a journalism major and saved Skye’s butt more than once during her writing course. “Matt was looking for you. He said you were living on campus this semester?”

Skye nodded. “Finally talked Māmā and Dad into it,” she explained with a faked smile. “So I’ll be here all year.”

“You want to do study group again this semester?” 

“I have  _ The Problem with God _ for one of my theology requirements and  _ The Ethics of Privacy _ for my first philosophy course, so yeah, I’m gonna need help,” Skye groaned. ”I never paid attention during religion class.”

“You can tutor me in Mandarin Level 2, right?” Cindi begged. She wanted to be an overseas correspondent; she was half-Iranian and spoke fluent Farsi already.

“Sure,” Skye agreed. “I’ll email you, we’ll figure when to meet.”

“Hey… you wouldn’t happen to want to come out to dinner with us, do you?” Cindi suddenly asked. “These are my roommates, Meg and Sarah.”

“Sure,” she agreed on a whim, grabbing her fake ID. She normally would say no, but Dr. Wells and her Dad had both been pushing her to make friends outside of SHIELD so she could learn proper socialization. 

At the restaurant, Skye ordered the steak salad, causing Cindi to laugh. “Do you ever not eat healthy?” she asked

Skye smiled secretively. She wasn’t going to mention the fact that she had to eat healthy for Agent training. “Sometimes I eat pizza,” she revealed, “but that’s typically a special occasion. Don’t tell anyone.”

“You really need to learn how to let your hair down and live a little,” Cindi chided. “Get this you guys, Skye’s on a full ride, but she still has a part-time job for some special interest group in DC.”

“What’s your major?” Meg asked.

“Computer Science,” Skye stated. 

“Nice! I’m an International Politics major,” Meg replied. “Cindi and I work on the paper together, but I really want to work for the State department. Be stationed somewhere interesting.”

“Meg and Sarah and I met at Model UN,” Cindi revealed. “We all want an adventure after graduation.”

“What about you, Skye?” Sarah asked.

“Adventure?” Skye asked. “I doubt I’ll get much. Computer Scientists are rarely allowed outside of any cubicle. I’m looking forward to seeing concrete walls for the next thirty years no matter where I’m stationed.”

“Ugh, why would anyone choose that?” Meg laughed.

“I’ve had enough adventure for one lifetime,” Skye murmured softly, acting dejected. She didn’t like having to sell her cover to new people. It felt too much like lying

“How is that possible?” Sarah asked. “You’re seventeen.”

“I travelled a lot,” Skye lied through her teeth. “Moved a lot. Raked up a lot of experience miles. I’m good with a quiet life. Get a boring job, get married, white picket fence - the whole bit.”

“That’s fair,” Sarah said. “I’m jealous, but that’s fair.”

They moved on to discussing class schedules for the year. Skye had no crossover with her college friends, but that just meant that she’d spend time with them on Tuesday and Saturday nights during study groups. 

Around eight, Skye ducked out. “Okay, I need to go,” she excused herself, not unkindly.

“Noooo, come on. We were going to go clubbing,” Meg begged.

“I’ve got homework,” Skye insisted.

“How can you have homework?” Sarah asked. “School doesn’t start until Monday.”

“I like to work ahead,” Skye said with a smile, shouldering her bag.

“Skye’s kind of a social wet blanket,” Cindi noted. “This one time, Matt cancelled study group on Saturday night and a bunch of us wanted to go to this Spring Rush party. And we tried dragging Skye along, but wet blanket here just went home to study.”

“I’m on scholarship. I’ve got to keep my grades up,” Skye defended. She smiled though. This was a conversation she and Cindi had multiple times. “Maybe if you studied more, you’d have a 4.0 like me.”

“The only reason you have that 4.0 is because of me and you know it,” Cindi teased back.

“93.2% on my writing course still counts as a 4.0,” Skye smirked. “Anyway. I’ve got to go. If anyone wants to join me, I’ll be in my room.”

She did get some work done, but she spent a portion of the evening chatting with Fitz over a hidden IRC that she created for the two of them. Just before lights out, she got a text from Brock that he was shipping out last minute and wouldn’t be there on Monday morning, but Nat was free to take over.

The next morning, a Saturday, Skye got up and unfolded the folding treadmill that had been in the corner of her dorm when she had moved in. Natasha had told her it was for her morning and evening workouts, a gift from Fury. To Skye’s surprise, she found a business card with a phone number on it taped to the electronic screen of the machine. She was impressed. She knew not too many agents, let alone trainees, had Nick Fury’s personal phone number. She memorized it, then burned it.

After she completed her workout, she studied for a while, then grabbed lunch on the way to SHIELD where she got some range time in before Gauntlet training. “So, how was move-in?” Izzy said.

“Are all college kids so… vapid?” Skye asked as she slowly practiced a new counter Izzy was teaching her against a big hunting knife.

Izzy laughed as she let Skye disarm her. “Vic, you owe me dinner.”

“Dang it, Skye,” Victoria complained. “Why?”

“I’m lost,” Skye said as she looked around and noticed everyone had stopped fighting each other.

“There was a bet,” Sharon explained. “How long it’d take before you caught on that most kids in college are idiots.”

“Why didn’t I notice it last semester, if it’s all of them?” Skye asked.

“You were living at home,” LT explained. “When you were on campus, you had laser focus on your classes. Now that you’re living on the dorms...”

“I still have no social time. Since I’m part-time at SHIELD and I’m training thirty-five hours a week, I don’t have free time.” Skye said.

“But you see them in the halls, hear them during odd hours in the dorms,” Izzy explained.

“Speaking of free time, you should let us take you out tonight,” Maria cajoled.

“I have to…” Skye started.

“Study,” everyone else finished simultaneously.

“Breakfast tomorrow?” Skye suggested.

“Brunch?” Sharon countered.

“I’m up for it,” Maria agreed.

“As long as it’s off-campus,” Victoria insisted. “All we ever do is work or sleep. I want to go somewhere social.”

“The Bombay Club it is then,” Izzy concluded.

“At ten?” LT suggested.

“Eleven,” Victoria and Izzy corrected simultaneously.

“So it’s agreed,” Maria concluded. “The Bombay Club tomorrow at eleven.”

“Sounds good,” Skye agreed excitedly. She couldn’t help but enjoy getting to know the Gauntlet members.

“You need me to pick you up?” Nat questioned.

“Yeah, Fitz is installing the new engine in the station wagon on Tuesday,” Skye chirped.

“How’s that going, by the way?” Izzy queried. “Mack said he hasn’t been by much. He’s been busy on some big secret project.”

“That’s okay, Brock’s been helping,” Skye excused.

“Brock Rumlow. You got  _ Brock Rumlow _ to do something without orders?” LT interrogated. “How?”

“Uh… he offered?” Skye guessed.

“I’m shocked,” Victoria chimed in. “I’ve never seen Rumlow volunteer for something in my life.”

“Yeah, I think hell just froze over,” Izzy added.

“I don’t understand,” Skye started.

“It’s probably the little sister thing,” Victoria suggested.

“What?” Skye asked.

“He looks at you like a little sister,” Maria explained.

“Yeah… I’m still lost,” Skye pointed out.

“Rumlow’s got a bit of a reputation,” Nat explained. “A lot of the single straight women at SHIELD call him the white whale.”

“White whale?” Skye parroted.

“As in nobody can land him,” Maria explained. “No woman has ever gotten him to do anything. He’s the type to use ‘em and lose ‘em.”

Skye snorted, then spotted their faces and saw how serious they were. “Sorry,” she admitted.

“It’s not really funny,” Nat said. “Most women only last two or three dates with Rumlow before he breaks up with them.”

“I heard that one of the Comms agents lasted two months once,” LT interjected. 

“He has a thing for a friend of mine,” Skye burst out.

Everyone stopped again. “Say what?” Victoria asked.

“Look, he won’t admit it to my friend,” Skye revealed. “And my friend doesn’t know anything about it. They’re just mooning over each other because they don’t want to talk to each other.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?” LT asked.

“Well, if they aren’t together by Christmas I’ll probably lock them in a storage closet or something,” Skye smirked

“Do it on your birthday,” Nat begged. “Please do it on your birthday.”

“Yeah, we all want to see it,” Izzy said.

“Fine,” Skye admitted. “If they’re not together by my birthday, we’ll shove them in a closet. So brunch tomorrow at eleven,” Skye confirmed, changing the subject. “I can’t wait.”

“I actually have an announcement,” Victoria said. Everyone turned and waited for her to continue. Victoria took Izzy’s hand. “This is our last Gauntlet practice.”

“What?” LT asked, flabbergasted. “Why?”

“Because Vic got a promotion.” Izzy bragged proudly. “Meet the new Level 8 Assistant Director of Operations at the Hub. I’m getting transferred since Fury’s recognizing our marriage even if the United States federal government doesn’t.”

Everyone’s demeanor instantly changed from worry to joy. “That’s amazing!” Sharon exclaimed. 

“Congrats,” Maria said with a smile. “We’ll definitely miss you around here though.”

Skye felt a little unsure of herself suddenly. She tried not to let her issues with her fear of everyone leaving her color her opinion on the change, but it certainly was a little bit. “Congrats,” she finally said softly.

Izzy, who’d taken a particular shine to Skye over the months they had trained together, came over and hugged her. “We’ll just have to Skype a lot,” Izzy promised, hugging her tightly. “This isn’t goodbye, okay?”

Skye nodded, fighting back the tears. “Sorry,” she cried.

“Hey, never apologize for tears,” Izzy said quietly. “We’re just one call away, you hear me?”

Skye nodded, then swallowed. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You better keep your knife practice up or Iz here might kill you herself,” Victoria joked.

“I have a feeling I won’t be allowed to let anything slide, knowing Nat and Clint,” Skye sniffed with a small smile. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Victoria boasted.

“Of course, before we know it, Skye’s going to end up being the new director and we’ll be working for her anyway,” Sharon interjected, and the whole group broke down laughing.

Everyone laughed. “I think Steve Rogers coming back from the dead has more of a chance of happening,” Skye joked. “Anyway, I’ve got to head out, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Skye biked back to campus, slightly anticipatory of when her car would be done. It would cut her commute time to five minutes and it’d be nice to have the option to visit wàigōng or her parents whenever she wanted. 

She studied a little more, did some non-sensitive background checks for SHIELD, then did her evening exercises and went to bed. It’d had been slightly awkward and uncomfortable for Skye to be poking into her professors’ lives, but she’d gotten used to it. She was used to doing background checks on her fellow students and professors. It was one of the things her parents insisted on doing when she first started at Georgetown, doubly so now that she was in the dorms. 

It was nice getting to be social with the Gauntlet ladies the next morning. She’d miss Izzy and Victoria, but she understood. The world needed SHIELD’s protection and that meant that sometimes you wouldn’t get to be stationed where you wanted. SHIELD tried their best to station married couples together, particularly when one of them was in a non-field related position. 

In the afternoon, her dad picked her up from the dorms and he took her home so that she could spend family time with her parents and wàigōng. “How is it, in the dorms?” her Māmā prodded cautiously. Skye could tell that she missed having her daughter around. It still made Skye blush, the idea that she not only had parents, but was a daughter. It made moving out that much harder, but Skye had discussed the idea during multiple sessions with Doctor Wells over her first semester and Wells agreed that this was a healthy step forward.

“It’s not the same without you there,” Skye told them honestly. “But I can bike to the Triskellion and once the car is done, it’ll take even less time.”

“I’m glad you’re excited about it. It sounds like Fitz is making good progress on it,” her Dad mused.

Skye’s eyes widened. “You’ve talked to Fitz?”

Her Dad nodded. “He wanted suggestions from Melinda for what to add to your car.”

“If Fitz and Brock modify it any more, it’s going to turn into some kind of fortified mobile command center,” she complained. She caught the look on her parents’ faces. “Oh no, that’s the plan?” She let out a groan of frustration. “I wanted it to be just a car.”

“It is,” her Māmā noted. “We just… want to make sure you’re as safe as possible no matter what happens.”

Skye stepped forward and hugged them both. “There’s always going to be risk. If I want to join SHIELD as an Ops agent, go into the field, and save the world… there’s going to be risk. You can’t wrap me in bubble wrap and pretend that it won’t.”

“I know,” her Māmā admitted. “Just give us this one.”

Skye rolled her eyes and smiled good-naturedly. “All right, you get one. But never again, okay?” Both of her parents nodded in agreement.

After Izzy and Victoria left DC, Skye couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Nat and Clint and the rest of her family tried to convince her that it was nothing, but Skye still couldn’t shake the feeling. Skye wished she could put her finger on what she might have seen or heard that set off her internal alarms, but it was fruitless.

As September was drawing to a close though, Skye’s feeling that something was off came to a head when Ward cornered her on the way out of Ops training. “Hey Skye, wait up!” Ward called after her. Skye debated pretending not to hear him. 

Skye sighed and turned and stopped. “What, Ward?” Skye asked.

“Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” he asked.

“I have to get back,” she said, pointing towards the elevator. “My boss is a bit of a…”

“Oh you can be late once,” Ward waved her off. “Let me buy you coffee.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “Fine. One coffee.”

Ward got them coffee then led her to a table that was pretty isolated. “I wanted to apologize again about the whole stalking thing. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was doing anything… unseemly.”

“You weren’t?” Skye questioned, unconvinced.

Ward shrugged. “I just… notice you. You’re different from the other female agents here. I can’t be blamed for noticing that.”

Skye remained unconvinced, but she remembered something Nat had once taught her. Sometimes if a mark thought you were melting and buying his lies, he’d reveal more about his mission. “Okay,” Skye intoned, softening her voice. “What… I’m sorry, but what am I supposed to do with that?”

Ward shrugged. “Anything you want. I feel like you didn’t really trust my first apology was sincere. Agents… it wasn’t appropriate of me to act like that. I wasn’t acting in a manner befitting an agent.”

“I… thank you,” Skye pressed, honestly flummoxed.

“Do you like working for SHIELD?” Ward coaxed.

Skye shrugged. “It’s okay,” she hedged. “I’m not really big on secrets.”

“I get that,” Ward agreed, nodding. “Secrets can get people killed.”

Skye was immediately suspicious. Where the hell was Ward going with this? She decided to go with it. If Ward was involved in anything illegal, she could always go to Fury. “Or worse,” Skye continued dryly. “I was more or less forced into this, remember? They caught me and kept me. After they found out about the hacking… it was this or prison, right? I figured if I couldn’t beat them, I could join them.”

“There are other options,” Ward murmured slyly, too low for anyone near them to overhear. “If you know the right person.” Skye snorted in disbelief. “I’m gonna be honest with you. I was in juvie. For arson and attempted murder.”

Skye gave Ward a cautious look, playing into what she knew about him. “You were framed?”

Ward sighed. “My family was abusive. It was self-defense, though no one else saw it that way. Agent Garrett saved me. Trained me. Got me accepted to the SHIELD Academy. I owe him… everything.”

“I get that feeling,” Skye remarked, nodding. Every red flag within her blaring. “The people who adopted me are SHIELD. They gave me a place to live while I was finishing High School. I only see them like once a week now, but I’m really grateful for what they did. Who knows where I’d be now without them.”

Ward gave her a long, hard look, as if he was evaluating her. “They put you first? Even before SHIELD?” he finally asked.

Skye shrugged, minimizing her parents’ loyalty on gut instinct. “Adoptive dad is a shrink. He talks about opening a private practice some day. Adoptive mom an Ops agent, but she’s getting older, so she’s…“

“Being edged out in favor of younger agents.”

“Yeah.”

“She must be upset about that.”

“She… she keeps things inside most of the time. It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking about.”

“I know a lot of agents like that,” Ward pointed out. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, but I’m not wild about secrets. The culture here is to just… not talk about it. Because of security or international security. I don’t want it to eat her up.”

“I don’t like secrets. I’m an open book. In fact, it’s part of my job.” 

Skye frowned. “How do you mean?”

“There’s a division within SHIELD that I work for. You could say that it’s like a secondary position here,” Ward said carefully. “We police SHIELD. Make sure the secrets they’re keeping are the secrets they should be keeping. I’ve actually been trying to talk to you about this for a few weeks. It’s a pretty exclusive position, and normally we don’t do this for Comms agents, but my bosses are very interested in your skillsets.”

Outwardly, Skye made sure she looked surprised and honored, spluttering her thanks for the opportunity. Internally, Skye was screaming. What the hell was going on? What group was this? She’d never heard of a group like this and she was fairly sure Ward wasn’t talking about Internal Affairs, because you couldn’t get people to work for IA unless you gave them a significant raise and new hires were never sent to IA.

“What? But I can’t qualify for Ops for another two years?” Skye puzzled, feigning surprise, honor, and confusion.

“We’re willing to wait,” Ward explained. “We’re playing a long game. We’ve been playing a long game since World War II.” 

Internally, Skye froze, shocked. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what group Ward was alluding to. Skye, however, played dumb. “What kind of group is it?”

“The kind of group that agrees with you that SHIELD has too many secrets. The kind of group that wants to see SHIELD gone.” 

Cold dread started growing inside Skye. She refused to let any emotions show though. This had to have been some sort of a prank. Didn’t the Gauntlet members mention something about hazing? Skye grinned easily. “This is a prank, right? One of those hazing rituals that I’ve heard rumors about? Is this more of the same because I’m not in Ops?”

“We’re not hazing you,” Ward denied. 

Skye scanned his face and her smile dropped. “Oh. I’m sorry. It’s just… all of this is a little unbelievable. Game face on, I get it.”

“I thought you wanted the truth?”

“I  _ do  _ want the truth,” Skye insisted slowly. “I don’t know if I want SHIELD to be  _ gone _ necessarily. They do protect people.”

“So do other groups. We don’t need SHIELD to get the truth.”

“Can I think about it?” Skye questioned.

“Sure,” Ward hesitated slowly.

“It’s not that I don’t see the merit in the idea,” Skye clarified, trying to keep Ward from being too suspicious. “I agree with you. It’s just that I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

Ward seemed to become more at ease with the idea. “Understandable,” he nodded, relaxing considerably. “I can give you 24 hours. Come and see me when you’ve made a decision.”

“I will,” Skye confirmed carefully. 

Skye didn’t sleep that night. If some sort of anti-SHIELD existed, and within SHIELD itself no less, could she actually trust anyone within the organization? One thing was for certain, she couldn’t move forward on something like this on the word of someone like Grant Ward. She needed more information.

He very well  _ could _ be winding her up or there could be some other motivation for him making her think that he was a part of something that she’d be against, though Ward didn’t know that. She didn’t give off the vibe that she went for bad boys, at least she didn’t think she did, so it had to be some other explanation.

She hacked very carefully. More carefully than she’d ever hacked before. The stakes were high this time. One mistake could mean consequences for more than just her.

She knew she was looking for a needle in a haystack so she started looking methodically. Instead of scouring each department one at a time, she looked at the folder trees of each department first.

Her diligence paid off when she found a folder within the Psychology department labeled ‘Candidates’ and below that were three folders: ‘Success’, ‘Failure’, and ‘In Progress’. Skye clicked on a file at random within the ‘Success’ folder and read the very end. ‘Subject has been successfully convinced elimination of those resistant to the ideals set forth by Dr. Zola is the correct resolution.’

Skye nearly dropped her computer. Zola, she knew that name, and not just because of her first semester History course. Zola was a HYDRA scientist, who served by Johann Schmidt’s side during the war. Zola, who like Hitler was both a vegetarian and totally evil. Arnim Zola, the man whose capture mission caused James Barnes’ death. Panicked, Skye checked the name of the person and the date, but saw that the date was from some fifty years prior and the person was no longer an Agent of SHIELD.

Skye erased any evidence that she’d been on the SHIELD servers, then logged off. She then started researching people named Zola in association with SHIELD and found information on Project Paperclip and an Arnim Zola who was a Nazi and a former member of HYDRA recruited to work with SHIELD. How could Peggy Carter have done such a thing? How did she justify hiring the man who’d had a hand in killing so many people?

Skye spent the rest of her night searching the DarkNet for information on Zola. She’d found some pretty hinky information that seemed to indicate that  _ something _ was going on that Zola didn’t want everyone to know about, but he was careful to cover his tracks. She knew two things by the time the sun rose. The first was that HYDRA was real and she was going to bring them down if it killed her. The second was that there was something strange happening in Wheaton, New Jersey linked to Zola. A truly shocking amount of energy was being drawn to an uninhabited area of the town, though what for Skye couldn’t tell.

Before she even realized, her alarm went off and she had to start her day. It was somehow harder, going into SHIELD when she knew there was something much more nefarious within. She still didn’t know how high up the infiltration went, or what other organizations had been infected. She knew she couldn’t do this alone. She was going to need help.

The thing was, she wasn’t entirely sure she knew who to trust. She hadn’t seen Dr. Wells or Andrew’s signatures or folders within the Psychology department HYDRA-related folders, but she also knew that it was nearly impossible to prove a negative. There was going to be some risk involved in this one.

She thought hard about who she trusted most with something like this and immediately landed on Natasha. In normal circumstances, she’d trust Natasha with something like this because Natasha had lived through it once. She wasn't the type to be HYDRA. Skye just didn't know who else she could trust. She'd have to do deep background on everyone. And the only way she would be able to do that would be to go undercover within HYDRA. Without backup. She didn't know what scared her more, what they'd do to her if she was caught or what they'd do to everyone else if she did nothing. 

She recognized this as her moment. The moment when agents sank or swam. And she had some amazing teachers. When she walked into SHIELD, she headed for the ammo range to get her required range time ordered by Clint. 

She signed out her usual bow and was issued the training arrows. While she preferred using a sniper rifle, Clint had said it was good for her to practice shooting long range with various weapons. She was pretty decent with a bow and arrow short range, but she was much less accurate when the target was farther out. But Clint said she was getting better, so she tried to have faith.

“Did you make a decision?” Ward questioned from behind her. She forced her body to jump slightly, even though she'd sensed him when she came in. Like she sensed Brock down the way, out of earshot. It was one of the skills that Nat had fine-tuned, but foster care had been Skye’s teacher. 

“I'm not dating you,” Skye demanded. “I'm not dating anyone.”

“Is that a ‘yes’?” Ward prodded. He looked like a dog in front of a steak. 

“It is, but I still have some concerns,” Skye extrapolated. “Questions.”

“I can answer them,” Ward acquiesced. “We just need to go somewhere a little more… private.”

“You make me go anywhere private with you, I break your face,” Skye growled. Ward had sparred with her enough during Ops training that he knew she could do it. 

“There a problem here?” Brock interjected, coming over.

“No problem,” Skye denied with a tight smile. “Ward was just leaving.”

Ward gave her a long look, then slowly walked out. The second Ward left and Skye and Brock were left alone, Brock closed the door and locked it. “Tell me it's not what I think it is,” he insisted, practically rushing Skye looking absolutely terrified. “Tell me this isn’t about HYDRA.”

Skye froze. “You know about HYDRA?” she questioned in shock.

“I do. I’m part of HYDRA.” Brock admitted.

Skye backed up. “You’re part of HYDRA,” she spat, trying to process that someone she trusted, someone she  _ liked _ was a Nazi.

“It’s a long story,” Brock sighed. There was exhaustion, pain, terror, and aggression in his face, but not towards her… for her. He was defensive of her?

“I’m going undercover,” Skye explained softly. “I can’t let them… I can’t let people like this destroy the only group of people who have ever given a damn about me.”

“Let’s go to my quarters and I’ll explain everything,” Brock promised.

Skye stiffened in hesitation and Brock sighed. “What did I promise, Skye?” he prompted. 

Skye bit her lip. “You… you said you'd never lie.”

“I said I'd never lie,” Brock nodded in agreement. “I’m not going to hurt you, Skye. The reason why is a long story. Will you listen?”

Very slowly, Skye nodded. They went to Brock’s quarters and Khan immediately made a beeline for them, hopping into Brock’s arms. Brock passed the cat to Skye and Skye unconsciously started stroking him. 

Brock then started into his story. “I was born to a drug-addict mother and an absentee father. She had a string of boyfriends who were abusive as hell to her. And once she was passed out, they’d turn on me. Mom died when I was six and I went into care.

“I was a little shit there, and I ended up landing in Juvie by ten, so I went into the Navy to get through college. I found out I was really good at being in the Navy. I became a SEAL and remained with them for ten years. But during those ten years I saw… I saw hell. I experienced it. It changed me. When I got home I was a mess. PTSD, anxiety, depression… and the only thing I’m any good at is.... This.”

“So you joined SHIELD,” Skye concluded.

“I joined SHIELD, but a stipulation of my being hired was that I had to get treatment. The therapist I was assigned to was HYDRA and she twisted me all around until I couldn’t tell right from wrong. Now I’m neck deep… I can’t get out. I’ve done all the wrong things. People have died…”

Skye couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Brock. He’d clearly been conned at a point in his life when he needed help. “Sounds like you need help, that you need someone to save you.”

“I’m not savable Skye, and even if I was, I don’t want you risking yourself for me.”

“I’m tougher than I look. And I’m not just doing it for you. I need to know… I need to know my family isn’t HYDRA.”

“These people are dangerous, Skye. Ward especially so. You should get out while you have the chance.”

“I can't.”

“You can.”

“No… I mean… I’m only joining because I want them  _ gone _ . I want to find out every last member and I want them to pay for what they've done.” Skye’s breath quickened, and her heart was pounding against her chest and in her ears.

Brock froze, stunned. “What did they do?”

Skye closed her eyes, remembering the unredacted file. The village burned to the ground, the childhood from hell. “I think… I think they might have killed my parents. My entire village, actually. I think HYDRA killed them.”

“Your… village?”

“I wasn’t born American. I was born in a tiny village in Hunan. It was destroyed and I was the only survivor. The SHIELD agents who found me… all of them were hunted down and murdered.”

“All the more reason to leave, Skye!” Brock roared. “If they killed everyone you loved to get to you then they’ll do it again!”

“I’M NOT RUNNING!” Skye screamed. Khan yowled, squirmed out of Skye’s arms, and took off to go hide under Brock’s bed. Brock froze and Skye took a few breaths. “I have been running my entire life. I was the punching bag. The shield. Until I broke. And every time I ran I had to start over. All my relationships, my roots, everything. But I finally found my home and I’ve been taught how to punch back. They  _ killed  _ my family and they’re threatening my second one. They’re going to learn  _ exactly _ the kind of hell-fire I can rain down on someone.”

Silence reigned between the pair as Brock looked Skye up and down, as if he were evaluating her fury. “I get it,” Brock admitted. “I just… care… I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.”

“And what about if we do nothing. What if we do nothing and Fitz gets hurt?”

Brock nodded. “So we’re taking on HYDRA.” Skye smirked, but said nothing. “So are you going to go to Fury about me?” From his tone, Brock was only curious. It didn't sound like he was upset or dangerous or angry.

Skye shook her head. “No.” Brock looked surprised at that. She shrugged. “I'm not sure who's HYDRA and who isn't, apart from you and Ward.”

Brock snorted. “Yeah, but Fury? It's absurd.”

“Three generations of HYDRA agents have been hiding in SHIELD since the 40s. We don’t know who’s HYDRA and who isn’t until we clear them all. Including my parents.”

“May and Garner?” Brock asked, then snorted. “Neither of them are the type. But I get your point. So do we clear them first?”

Skye shook her head. “First we clear Nat and Clint. Then Māmā and Dad. Then the rest of my family. And then we all can help to figure out who’s HYDRA and who’s SHIELD… and like in your case, who got manipulated into it.”

Brock looked impressed by her. “That’s… actually… a really wise plan.”

“I have them occasionally,” Skye grinned. “You ready to take on HYDRA?”

“I’m sure I’m going to regret this but yeah, sure. Let’s take on Nazis.”

“Most good things in life are worth risking regret for,” Skye reminded him. “It’s worked for me so far. Can you tell me what you know?”

“Not without calling attention to the fact that you’re here in the middle of the day,” Rumlow considered. “How about Sunday?” 

“Sunday works,” Skye agreed. “In the morning though. I have to go to family dinner with my parents or else they’ll get suspicious.”

“When are you going to talk to Barton and Romanov?” Rumlow asked.

“I’ll be going to Thanksgiving with them. I’ll talk to them then.”

“In two months?” Brock asked in doubt.

“I’m not doing this fast, Brock. We have to do this slow and steady. If we do it right, We’ll capture them before they even know what hit them.”

Brock sighed. “Your parents are going to kill me. So’s Romanov. And Barton.”

“Awwww. I’ll protect you.”

“You’re up to something.”

Skye smiled. “I protect you and you have to ask Fitz out,” Skye prodded.

“Not this again.”

“Look, if he leaves one more service submission erotica around my Station Wagon, I swear to God, I’m going to make you swallow it. He’s a sub. He’s a gay sub, or at least bisexual, and he likes you. You want me to wrap him up with a bow for you because this is literally as good as it gets. He’s perfect for you.”

“Okay,” Brock gave in, holding his hands above his head in defeat. “Once we have an idea of how to deal with HYDRA… I will ask Leo out.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” Skye smirked with a smile. “Thank you. I’m not into that BDSM stuff. And I don’t want to picture either of you in any of those situations.”

“I have a counter proposal for you, though,” Brock added.

“Yeah?” Skye asked.

“Once all this is over, you go out on a date.  A real one. Not the fake dating you did with Fitz.”

“I don’t need a date,” Skye denied, rolling her eyes. “I’m happy alone.”

Brock gave her a long look then crossed the room and hugged her tightly. “You’re not alone, Skye Garner-May. And I promise you that we’re going to win this fight.”

Skye was momentarily stunned. Brock wasn’t much of a hugger normally. She’d never actually seen Brock express an emotion beyond frustration and a vague sense of approval when she improved, and now she was tightly being held by him as she felt his protectiveness roll off of him. “I know,” she breathed.

“You know? How?”

“I guess I just have faith.”

“Let’s get you out of here.”

“I’ve got a couple of hours to work out before I have to go back to the dorms.”

“You be careful, yeah?”

“Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Talk to your SO in HYDRA. Volunteer to be my SO. We already have a relationship; HYDRA won’t look at it too hard, especially since they know you’re in too deep to get out.”

“Done,” Brock nodded.

“If we pull this off, my parents are gonna kill me, as long as they aren’t… you know… evil Nazis. I suppose if they are, they’d really try to kill me...”

“I’ll talk to you Sunday, Skye,” Brock chuckled. Skye nodded and left the room and headed back to her gym to continue her workout. 

_ Hail HYDRA _ , she thought wryly.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye reaches her breaking point and confronts her family

Brock ended up having to call in a few favors to become Skye’s HYDRA SO, but he managed to get Skye away from Ward. They spent a lot of late evenings together making of lists of suspected or confirmed HYDRA agents while Skye tracked down Natasha’s origins prior to and since joining SHIELD. Skye ran into a wall when she realized Clint had recruited the former Russian assassin. 

Skye had also been surprised to notice that she didn't really see other people within HYDRA. 

“It's not a ‘group huddle’ type of organization, Skye,” Brock pointed out. “Pierce likes to keep things compartmentalized.”

“Smart idea,” Skye noted idly. “Though it makes our job harder.”

“Do you really plan to do background checks on everyone by hand?” Brock asked incredulously.

Skye shook her head. “I’m writing a program to do background checks to flag the files with the markers of an ideal candidate. If there are three or more flags in a file, they’ll be copied to my computer’s ghost partition for review. Plus I’m starting with the psychology department because of what you told me.”

“How’s the background check on Barton going?”

“He has two flags in his file. I’m looking into him further but there are… reasons to believe he isn’t.” Skye wasn’t about to tell Brock Clint’s secret, but the fact that he had a family counted in his favor. Especially since she had a very hard time believing that Laura would put up with HYDRA. “How are things on your end?”

“I got two more names of confirmed HYDRA agents. John Garrett and Jasper Sitwell. Neither of them were manipulated into it. I’m working on Jack. He was given a choice but… he’s having second thoughts.”

“Really,” Skye asked, surprised. “I wouldn’t think that would be allowed in a place like HYDRA.”

“It’s not,” Brock agreed. “They say the only way out of HYDRA is in a body bag. But Jack’s my brother and we share a lot of things with each other. Plus…”

“What?”

“Jack and Jemma have had five dates in three weeks.”

“You think he’s queued up to flip like you did because he’s in love?”

“I think I want to see where this goes. It’s possible that we can flip him without him really even realizing it.”

“Jemma’d never join HYDRA.” Skye paused. “She's too…”

“I know what you mean. Not the type HYDRA typically recruits.”

“I mean… I could sort of see them using logic to try, but Fitz and Simmons have been inseparable. And if Simmons is HYDRA, so is Fitz.”

“Still, Simmons wouldn’t be the first person they tried to recruit who was a risk,” Brock said thoughtfully.

“But with Simmons, if they fail to recruit her, the cleanup would be a huge problem.” 

“Not to mention she’s the worst liar I've ever seen. If they're HYDRA, HYDRA has a much better sense of humor than I thought possible.” Brock hesitated. “Certain members of HYDRA think we're sleeping together.”

Skye stiffened. “I didn't think that kind of thing would be allowed.”

“Encouraged, actually,” Brock expanded. “Sex can be used as...motivator. I personally am not much of a fan of that use, but some members within HYDRA enjoy it.” Skye shuddered. “The bosses know the truth. Pierce actually took me aside to make sure I  _ wasn't _ .”

Skye snorted. Alexander Pierce, head of the World Security Council, was the first name Brock had given Skye. “And here I thought he was the son of the Devil.”

Brock smiled coldly. “He is, but he’s a father and grandfather to girls, and your background…”

“Well, I guess even Hitler was a once a war hero and Schmidt was an orphan. They’re still all totally evil.”

“I figure we can exploit it if Ward gets too close.”

“You have a plan for that?”

“Skye, the second Ward recruited you, I made a plan for every possibility.”

Skye didn't know how to handle that. “I'm gonna go. I need to put in some range time.”

Unfortunately, life didn't stop just because there were evil Nazis threatening everyone and everything she loved. Midterms arrived the week of Halloween. Given that she was working at SHIELD in tandem with her degree, she was given the week off of her Comms work and her training time was waived. She still started her day and ended her evening with her workouts, but the rest of the time, she studied and let her hacking programs run.

Six more people were flagged for her to do deep background on, bringing the number to over a hundred. After her midterms finished on Thursday, she completed her deep background on Clint. There was information in her file on him that Skye never wanted to know, but he wasn’t HYDRA. She felt a lot better knowing that she was no longer an island. 

Another thing she did was beg off of meeting with Dr. Wells regularly. “I can’t officially approve of this,” Dr. Wells chastised. “We haven’t been working together that long and you have a lot more to work through. I’ll have to file a report with the Director.” Skye kept her poker face solid. She knew she had a lot more to work through. She’d had nightmares about HYDRA killing her family every night since Ward had come forward with his offer. But Wells had the habit of finding out Skye’s secrets and she couldn’t risk Wells finding out this one. There was too much at stake.

“I just don’t think I have the time. Because of work and training and school. I just need to take a break from this for a little while.”

“So you want a few weeks off?” 

Skye shrugged. “I’ll let you know once things get easier. I promise that if I have any issues, I’ll call you.”

“I’ll have Fury inform your family.” 

Skye also set up her computer so that if it didn’t register a log of her keystrokes every 24-hours, it would email everything to Clint. It was morbid, but it was a necessary precaution. 

Skye’s parents had also been upset when they learned that she’d quit therapy. “You still should be going, Skye,” Andrew commented at Sunday dinner. “Therapy isn’t over just because you’re not having nightmares any more.”

“I’m not quitting,” Skye said. “This semester’s just kicking my ass right now.”

“If you need to cut back on work or training…” Māmā requested softly. “It’s not a bad thing to take some time off. School should be the priority.”

“And it is. I just need you to trust me for a little while,” Skye countered.

“Okay,” Andrew cut in before her Māmā could speak. “We can give you the rest of the semester.”

Her mother frowned deeply, clearly in disagreement. “Māmā, please,” Skye begged. “You wanted me to trust you, when you first found me, and I did. I still do. I just need time.”

“Okay,” Māmā conceded very carefully. “But you’re telling us everything at Christmas break.”

With Wells off her back, Skye’s stress levels went way down, and her nightmares calmed down to once or twice a week.

“Skye, you’ve got a letter,” Patrick, one of the RAs, announced, pulling her out of her thoughts two weeks later. He put the letter on the counter and Skye picked it up with a furrowed brow. She saw Trip’s name and couldn’t help but feel all warm inside in spite of everything that was going on. “Looks like a pleasant surprise.”

“Yeah,” Skye concurred happily. “Thanks.”

“Have a good day. And come to the Halloween Mixer on Friday, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Skye hedged, laughing.

Trip’s letter was the perfect remedy to all the work she had been doing. It didn’t talk about anything serious, but instead talked about the guys he was serving with and him idly wondering how many of them it would take for them to take her down. He also talked about all the crap they did around the camp to pass time when they weren’t working, which made Skye happy.

Skye didn’t have a whole lot of extra time on her hands, but during that time, she set to learning how to knit so that she could send Trip something for Christmas. She also bought a bunch of postcards and sent one every four days so Trip would get a steady stream of notes and thoughts from her. She only worked on the scarf, which was red and navy, in her dorm room. She skipped the Halloween party, choosing to work on the scarf instead. 

Natasha had picked up on the fact that something was going on with her, giving her the side-eye any time she spotted Skye with her knitting. “Homemade gifts are better,” Skye noted. She’d already resolved to give everyone scarves anyway. 

“You seem pretty distracted lately,” Nat noted while they sparred and Nat evaluated her progress.

“Is my performance lacking?” Skye asked as she used a takedown to send Nat to the floor.

“No,” Nat discented idly. “You just seem… different. Like you were when we first found you.” Constantly stressed out and afraid? Yeah, Skye could agree with that particular assessment. But now the threat was to her family, and not just to her. Skye was quickly learning that she didn’t like it when people went after her family.

“I’m fine, Nat,” Skye dismissed with a shrug. But she gave Nat a very subtle look that she needed to lay off the topic. The recognition in Nat’s eyes passed by so fast, Skye almost missed it. But Skye did saw it and knew that Nat had understood her.

“As long as you know that you can always come to me if you need to,” Nat encouraged.

Skye nodded. “Always.” They continued their fight, and Nat laid off that particular topic, thankfully. 

Brock, meanwhile, was just as stressed as Skye was, worrying about Fitz’s vulnerability and how if HYDRA knew about how Brock felt, they might outright kill him.

“If they don’t approve of love or dating, why is Jack Rollins dating Jemma?” she asked after the third week in a row that Brock had spent most of their meeting stressing over his friend.

“They approve of it if the person can move HYDRA forward. I mean, Leopold’s absolutely brilliant, but I worry that they might think he’s too much trouble. He’s… not submissive in the office.”

“I don’t want to know about this.” Skye frowned.

“He’s pushy,” Brock pressed. “Especially on his little project on automobile defense. Intel says it’s been so successful that they’re doing the same thing to the Director’s car. Which apparently is going to alter HYDRA’s plan and they’re not happy about it. The intel I’ve seen keeps talking about assets.”

“Well,” Skye hedged. “I guess we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

“Do you want to go down and look at what’s been done to your car?” Her car was almost done, according to Fitz. Fitz was putting in a lot of tech and wasn’t allowing her down to see it now that it was in final stages. Apparently, it was Fitz’s Christmas present to her.

In retaliation, Skye had resolved to knit Fitz a blue and bronze scarf for his present. It had been two weeks since Skye had started to teach herself how to knit and she was finding it was really easy and actually pretty relaxing. It was such a mindless, repetitive movement that it actually helped her study.

She was also able to do deep background on her Māmā and Dad and both of them cleared. Andrew wasn’t mentioned in any of the HYDRA psych reports and Māmā wasn’t in the psych reports nor alluded to in any agent reports. She wasn’t anywhere in the HYDRA reports.

The issue was Nat. When Skye ran background on Nat, she found some strong connections between the Red Room and HYDRA. On paper, it looked suspicious, but Skye knew Nat and knew why she left that life. Alternatively, Nat was the best liar Skye had ever met and theoretically, she could be making the whole ‘redemption’ motivation up. Frankly, Skye realized that she wouldn’t be able to deal with it until Thanksgiving anyway.

Most of her classmates were over the moon about going home for Thanksgiving and Skye couldn’t blame them. She herself was pretty excited to see Laura. Apart from a few letters passed by hand over the past year, Skye hadn’t gotten to hear much from Laura. She’d gotten the birth announcement a few months after Cooper had been born and Clint gave her regular verbal updates during training about how his son was doing.

Skye couldn’t help but grin at the goofy-happy grin Clint gained whenever he talked about his son. She’d known a lot of fathers in her life and she could tell that Clint was a great one. He was also starting to get paternal towards Skye, gently prodding her to talk about what was bothering her. Skye evaded his prompts, excusing it by saying she was too tired to chat, too busy to stick around. 

Bobbi was finally able to start training Skye on fighting with shock sticks on the Friday night, a week before Thanksgiving. They went slow, thankfully. Skye was so tired she wasn’t up for a full fight. 

“You okay?” Bobbi asked as they worked. 

Skye nodded. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“You want to take a break?” Bobbi pressed.

“I said I’m fine,” Skye snapped, quickening her pace. Bobbi had to readjust to keep up as they stopped walking through things and started to actually fight with earnest. It wasn’t until Bobbi took Skye’s legs out from under her that she realized how tired she really was. She didn’t get back up. Skye lay there, panting, just… tired.

“Skye?” Bobbi asked, clearly worried. “What’s wrong? What do you need?”

What was wrong… now there was a question for the ages. She tried her best to focus on what she could fix in the here and now. She couldn’t fix her schedule. She couldn’t fix not being normal. She couldn’t fix her childhood. She couldn’t fix HYDRA. Not immediately. Not right now. But she could get her family to help her share the load. Suddenly, she knew what she needed. “Clint,” Skye started softly. Bobbi was already on her phone.

Skye tried to get up, but Bobbi stopped her. Clint came into view a couple minutes later. “Skye? You okay?”

“She finally crashed,” Bobbi informed him. “She was asking for you and I figured you could talk to her then take her home for the weekend.”

“I don’t need to go home,” Skye complained. 

“You’re gonna kill yourself if you keep going like this,” Clint warned. “Everyone’s worried about you. Even Fury’s starting to get concerned. You have to take better care of yourself, Skye. You were doing so well with talking to us. What happened?”

Skye sighed and was quiet as Clint helped her into his car. Skye pulled out a bug sweeper as Clint started the car and saw that it was all clean. “I can’t tell you,” she begged. “Not… here.”

“Name the place,” Clint complied. “I’ll get us there.”

“The place we went last year,” Skye petitioned softly, remembering the Homestead. It might be the one place on Earth right now she felt safe.

“Done,” Clint acquiesced. “We can go the second you’re done with classes.”

“Māmā and Dad too,” Skye demanded politely.

Clint looked over at Skye for a long moment. “You really think it warrants that?”

Skye sighed, looking out the window at nothing as they raced along the highway. “I think… maybe,” Skye equivocated.

“I just need you to answer one thing for me right now,” Clint stipulated. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Sure,” Skye permitted.

“Are you okay?” Clint asked worriedly. “I mean are you sick or something?”

Skye smiled as brightly as she could. “No Clint, I’m not sick or dying,” she denied honestly. “I’m… I’m not okay, but it’s nothing like that.”

“Okay,” Clint fretted, eyeing her worriedly. “I’ll come up with a way to get everyone to the Homestead. I can’t promise they’ll be conscious for most of it, but I’ll get them there.”

Skye nodded. “Don’t tell them what I said, okay?” she asked.

“Skye…” Clint sighed.

“Please…” Skye begged. “I can’t talk about it here and if they press me about this… I feel like I’m going to come apart at the seams.”

“Okay, Skye,” Clint caved in, seeing just how hard the stress was hitting her. 

A week later, Clint had knocked out her parents for just long enough to drive them to the farm. Māmā had put up a hell of a fight until she saw the look on Skye’s face. “Please,” Skye had begged.

That was enough for Māmā to allow herself to be drugged.

Clint, Nat and Skye drove to a SHIELD safe house where they changed cars. They changed cars again in a garage in Chicago, then finally picked up Clint’s pick-up from long-term parking at the Dubuque Airport.

Laura must have dropped the car off a few hours ago. There was a huge thermos with hot cocoa in it and a ton of woolen blankets with several chemical click-starter heating packs underneath to keep them warm. The blankets were perfect cover for Skye to rifle in her bag and slip out the gun she’d gotten. Māmā and Dad, both blindfolded, woke up ten minutes from the house, still groggy.

As they pulled into the driveway, Māmā, finally shaking off the effects of the drugs, opened the back panel to the truck and they all talked to each other. Clint pulled the truck to a stop and turned to where Skye was sitting against the cab. Nat had taken the opposite corner, by the exhaust pipe, playing sentry. “Now, can you finally tell us what the hell is going on?” 

Skye raised the gun, pointing it at Nat. Nat froze, looking hurt and betrayed, Skye could see the decision being made by Nat to either take Skye out or surrender. Slowly, Nat raised her arms.

At the same time, Clint, Māmā and Andrew burst out of the cab. “What the hell, Skye!” Clint exclaimed. “Have you lost your mind?”

“It’s okay, Skye,” Dad persuaded softly, seeing the terror on his daughter’s face showed. “Whatever’s going on, we can work through it. You’re safe. You’re with your family.”

“What the hell’s going on?” Māmā exploded, every bit the Mama Bear in that moment. “What are you thinking, Skye?”

Skye ignored all of them, staring at Nat. “Tell me the truth. Are you part of it?” she begged. 

“Part of what?” Clint demanded. “What the hell’s been going on with you?”

“I’ve cleared every _single_ other member of my family.” Skye yelled. The gun was shaking in her hands and tears streamed down her face. “They’re all clean except for you. You definitely did missions for it. I just… Can’t. Tell. If. You. Knew. So _did_ _you_?”

“Who?” Nat asked.

“HYDRA!” 

Everyone froze, wide-eyed and staring. “Skye, HYDRA’s been gone for years. Captain America destroyed them.” Andrew quavered slowly.

“And SHIELD recruited Arnim Zola, a member of HYDRA, not long after they were founded,” Skye pointed out. “Grant Ward recruited me in August. But I’ll tell you everything in a minute. I just need Nat to tell me to my face that she’s not.”

Nat looked dead at Skye. “I’m not HYDRA,” Nat told her carefully. Skye searched Nat’s face for a lie. For any amount of deception. All Skye could see was hurt, and pain, and self-hatred. “I’m not HYDRA, Skye. I promise. I’ve spent hours alone with you in remote, unsecured and non-surveilled places. If I was HYDRA, wouldn’t I have done something by now? I know you. I know you’d never join.”

Clint very slowly approached Skye, who let Clint take the gun from her and Nat instantly gathered Skye up in her arms, projecting her movements. Skye felt the weight of the last three months. The worry, the fear, the revulsion, the frustration. She was only one person and could do a lot, but she could only do so much. It took her a moment before she realized that she was sobbing and her Dad was holding her Māmā back from grabbing her and not letting go.

“It’s okay,” Nat consoled when Skye stiffened. “Take a moment, then you can tell us what you need to.”

Skye took a deep breath, then focused on easing her breathing. Eventually Nat backed off. She saw fear on Clint’s face, self-hatred on Nat’s and… her parents looked betrayed. Realization hit her like a punch to the gut. They thought she hadn’t trusted them. And to a certain degree, they were right.

“I think Ward took interest in me after that first Ops training,” Skye started. “It makes sense. I beat his record, officially I’m mostly untrained, I have… a hell of a background. I’m target HYDRA material.”

No one said anything, so Skye continued. “Over the summer, Ward used the weekly Ops trainings to get closer to me. I thought he was just being creepy, so I started collecting evidence. That’s when I noticed him stalking me.” 

“Stalking, Skye?” Andrew asked. “Why didn’t you report it?”

“I did,” Skye admitted. “I went directly to his SO, John Garrett, and Ward stopped. I thought it was over, until in late August, he approached me with an opportunity to work for an elite group inside SHIELD. He didn’t say anything outright, but he told me the group had been around since World War II. Ward isn’t exactly a genius. It wasn’t exactly hard to put together once I got my hands on a computer and could hack the right SHIELD records. Once I’d been told…”

“You had to make sure you did everything you could to kick them out,” Nat finished, nodding in understanding.

Skye nodded. “I agreed to join HYDRA,” Skye explained. “So I could take them down from the inside.”

All hurt on the faces of her family was replaced by concern and anger. “Skye,” Māmā chastised. “Do you know how  _ dangerous _ that is?”

“And if I refused to join, they’d kill me because I’d know about their existence,” Skye justified. “I’ve been working to run background checks on everyone in SHIELD since the beginning.”

“Then why didn’t you tell us?” Andrew protested. “Why didn’t you trust us?”

“Because it looks like HYDRA might have killed my parents!” Skye burst out fearfully.

Skye watched as her parents’ faces transitioned from hurt to forgiveness to understanding. Māmā tagged Nat out and got into the bed of the truck with Skye. Her Māmā hugged her tight and didn’t let go. Skye hadn’t been letting the words really hit her since she’d discovered the scraps of files that made her wonder. But the second her Māmā grabbed her and held her tight, filling the hold with love and acceptance and fear on Skye’s behalf, Skye burst into tears. Her family. The village. Hundreds of people, dead because of HYDRA. And she was the only survivor. Why her? Why had she survived? She had no idea, but she knew that she owed it to her people to make HYDRA pay for what they did.

Skye finally cried herself out and her Māmā backed off. Clint had gone inside, probably to tell Laura they were going to be a while.

“I didn’t know who to trust. The only person who knew that I knew apart from Ward was Brock,” Skye told them.

Nat cursed in Russian. “Rumlow’s HYDRA?”

“Not anymore,” Skye corrected. Her Māmā looked murderous and even her Dad looked about as angry. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“Last I checked, everyone has a conscience and everyone has a choice.”

“Except he had PTSD when he got out of the SEALs, and his SHIELD-mandated shrink was HYDRA.” 

Nat looked like she had been expecting this news. Māmā pretty much instantly processed and accepted it, but her Dad looked utterly betrayed. It was finally hitting home that they all were going to know people who were loyal to HYDRA.

“Who else?” Nat asked. “Is Fury…”

Skye shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Alexander Pierce however…” she sighed. “He’s the head of HYDRA.”

“Well,” Nat responded. “That’s where we start.”

\--------

Upon realizing how many all-nighters Skye had been taking to work on the HYDRA issue though, her Māmā forced her to take a long nap. Skye knew that normally her parents would be totally shocked by the presence of Laura and Cooper but after the shock of HYDRA, she was pretty sure she could give them any news, truth or lie, and it wouldn’t phase them. 

Skye woke up for dinner: salad, beef stew, and rolls. Her Māmā made her take an extra-large portion of salad. Once dinner had finished, they sat in the living room while Laura put the dishes away. Clint cradled his son and alternated between looking awed and vaguely horrified.

After watching for several minutes, Nat prodded him. “I think we need to hear more,” she requested, looking at Skye. 

“What do you want to know?” Skye asked, grabbing the backpack she’d come in with. 

“You said  _ Pierce _ is HYDRA?” Nat asked.

Skye started outlining how Ward had recruited her and how Rumlow had overheard them and immediately had tried to get her out.

“Remind me to buy that man a beer,” Clint beseeched.

“Remind me to buy him a case,” Andrew added.

“I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Skye started. “That’s the most sexist…”

“Nope. Beer’s not enough. I’m getting him a case of Stolichnaya,” Nat argued.

“Guys, come on,” Skye pleaded.

“We’re just worried about you,” Māmā reminded her. “This is… a lot.”

Skye then brought out her laptop and broke down everyone she had flagged as being possibly HYDRA.

She’d brought two sets of extra ink cartridges and folders and they printed everything out. 

Andrew took the Psych department, Skye took the SciTech department and the others divided Ops, Comms, and Admin between them evenly.

Her Māmā made her go to bed early that night, right after they all ate dessert while working through all of the files Skye had provided. She had a dream that night that Pierce had brought HYDRA out of hiding. Māmā was there, as were Coulson and Fitz and Jemma. Ward had grabbed her and she couldn’t get his hands off of her, but Captain America and his Howling Commandos stopped Pierce and Garrett. Then her Māmā had killed Ward.

She dreamt of Ward cornering her, threatening to rape her, and suddenly awoke with a start to a silent house. For once, Māmā and Dad weren’t there when she’d woken up from a nightmare so she slipped out of bed and out of the house, making a beeline for the barn where she knew she’d get some privacy. Except she realized the second she entered the barn, she wasn’t alone. 

“You okay?” Clint asked, sounding devastated. “You’ve been kinda quiet since you told us everything.”

“I don’t know,” Skye admitted. “I kinda want to… run.”

Clint nodded. “I thought you might say that. Let’s go.”

“What?” Skye asked, shocked.

Clint made his way over to an ATV and turned it on. The barn door was already open so he very slowly rolled it out before turning back to Skye. “Come on, I know a place.”

Skye wordlessly got in the passenger side of the vehicle and Clint drove off. Clint had apparently been expecting her because there was a woolen blanket and a hot water bottle at her feet. About an hour later, Clint pulled over to the side of the road, stood up, and screamed.

Skye jumped a mile, staring at Clint. “Try it,” Clint encouraged at his normal register, shrugging.

Skye stared at him as he started screaming again, then looked around. There was no one around for miles. Suddenly Skye let out a high-pitched, ear-splitting, terrified scream. She screamed until she cried. She screamed until she was hoarse. Clint awkwardly held her across the seat divider. She hadn’t even realized how scared she’d been that one of her family members might have been HYDRA. How scared she still was. She had yet to crack the British Army’s firewall, mostly because of time. 

“I’m sorry I thought you were HYDRA,” Skye apologized quietly.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this alone,” Clint replied. “You should have told me. You had to have known I wasn’t HYDRA after a while.”

“I didn’t want to have to make you choose,” Skye explained softly.

“Between you and Nat?” Clint asked. Skye nodded. “Never let that stop you from coming to me when you need something, Artemis.” Skye blushed and smiled a little as she heard Clint’s nickname for her. A few weeks after she started training with Clint on weapons, she’d landed a fluke shot using a bow and arrow. He had crowed she truly was a Goddess of the Hunt because she wasn’t just good at tracking digitally but she had an obvious talent for archery. 

It took a while for Clint to convince her, but it did seem that aiming was one of her talents.  

“You and Nat are best friends. You’re closer than anyone I’ve ever seen at SHIELD. I can’t pretend that I compete with that.”

“You know it’s not a competition. It’s two completely different relationships.”

“I know, but…”

“You didn’t want to make me choose.” Clint hugged her tightly for a moment. “Someday, Artemis, you’re going to have to accept a truth that the rest of us see.”

“What…?” Skye started to ask.

“That you’re worth choosing.” Skye didn’t know what exactly to say to that, so burrowed deeper in the wool blankets. “We should get back and get some hot cocoa in you or your mom will kill me for keeping you out in the cold.”

Skye rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure that she’d always be having to deal with adults concerned every winter for the rest of their lives. But she let Clint take care of her, secretly relishing the feeling of being pampered.

Nat was still up, working on the files, when they got back. Skye sat down, intending to help but she accidentally fell asleep. When she woke up again, it was morning and she smelled bacon and eggs cooking in the kitchen. Clint served up breakfast sandwiches they all sipped coffee, blinking and trying to break the ice over what had happened.

“So, going over these files is great, but what are we going to do come Monday?” Māmā asked, ever the pragmatist. Skye could also tell Māmā was gearing up for one of her fights where she refused to let Skye near anything remotely dangerous.

“Well I’ve got bad news and good news,” Andrew started. “It looks like about half the psychology department is HYDRA. But the good news is I think we can take them.”

Clint gave a laugh and her Māmā smiled. “SciTech won’t be a problem,” Skye noted, a bit hoarsely. “Except for the fact that a lot of upper-level SciTech agents are HYDRA. And given how influenced SciTech cadets can be, I’d lock down the academy when we do take them down.”

“All the academies will be,” Nat agreed. “The cadets will be confined to quarters. Ops is a mess. I can see why you’ve had so much work, Skye. Andrew, do you think we’ll be able to undo what’s been done to those who were influenced by the shrinks?”

“I’m hopeful, yes,” Andrew sighed. “I’ll be looking over their patients next to see who’s been… affected. We won’t really know until we talk to them.”

Laura came over. “Lunch is almost ready,” she announced, bouncing Cooper in her arms. “Melinda, could you take him?”

Laura didn’t wait for a response, but placed Cooper in Māmā’s arms. Skye smiled as she watched her Māmā’s face morph to one of pure joy. “Do I see siblings in my future?” Skye teased.

“What?” Māmā asked, looking startled up at Skye then over at Andrew. 

“They’re hard, but so much fun,” Laura explained. “Clint looked the same way the first time he held Coop. Utterly smitten and with one foot out the door of SHIELD.”

“Don’t worry,” Nat clarified with a grin. “I talked him out of it.”

“Good,” Skye sighed in relief. “I’d be sad if we weren’t Agents together.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily Artemis,” Clint assured her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last of the family is brought in on the plan against HYDRA and Skye has a birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is brief mention of attempted sexual abuse of a minor in the very last section of this chapter. Again, nothing explicit, but warning for those in need of them.

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. Laura finally put her foot down, dragged them all away from their files and made them have at least one conversation that wasn’t about SHIELD or HYDRA. They talked longer than they had expected. Skye noted her parents were so taken with Cooper that she, Clint, and Natasha had a silent conversation and the next thing she knew she was in the Bartons’ other car, a beat-up old four-door. She could hear Laura talking to her parents, asking them to watch Cooper for a minute while she took a walk.

Laura got in the passenger seat and the drove off towards town. Clint had left a note, and had explained to Skye that he figured Andrew and  could use some time to talk things out.

“But… don’t you have to talk things out?” Skye looked between Clint and Laura.

“We spent some time talking this morning,” Laura noted quietly. “Besides, we don’t have a daughter at the center of all this.” 

Skye looked down, slightly ashamed. “Laura, she feels bad now!” Clint exclaimed.

“Don’t feel bad,” Laura comforted. “Come on, chin up. We’re going to teach you how to bag a deer.”

“ _ You  _ hunt?” Skye asked of Nat.

“Nat’s the best tracker in the county when she’s here,” Clint bragged with a smug smile. “There’s this annual rabbit tracking competition every Labor Day. You should have seen everyone’s faces the first year Nat won.”

“Nat’s won every year since,” Laura explained. “The guys around here didn’t love it at first but they’ve accepted Nat as one of their own since then. It’s kinda special to witness.”

An evening of tracking and hunting was just what Skye needed, as it turned out. The cold fall wind did a great job of clearing her head and calming her down. By the time they had returned, they had bagged two does that Clint said would get them about 30 lbs a piece. They’d keep half for the year and sell or trade the rest.

They all stumbled in, laughing, and stopped when they spotted Māmā and Dad sitting in the living room, Māmā cradling Cooper. 

“Here, I’ll take him,” Laura offered immediately, swooping in to take her son and giving her and Clint a reason to leave the room. 

Nat sat down on the loveseat and clearly wasn’t going to move. “Skye, we need to talk,” Andrew urged kindly.

Skye calmly sat and waited for the ultimatums and plans to get her out of the country. She was fully prepared for what was about to be said. 

“We know you have to do this,” Andrew explained carefully. “Even if we don’t like it, we’ll support you. But we have some rules.”

Skye resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “For one thing, if things go as planned and we take HYDRA down on-schedule, you’re not to be at SHIELD when it happens,” her Māmā demanded. “You’re to be here or on campus.”

“Barring complications or unforeseen events, I suppose I could agree to that.” Skye had really wanted to see Pierce go down in person but she could always hack the security cameras and watch everything happen remotely.

“For another thing, you’re to carry a panic button with you everywhere,” Andrew noted. “It’ll alert Natasha, Clint, Bobbi, Hunter, and Mel, once we clear Hunter, of course.” Skye sensed a big one coming so she said nothing and waited. “Finally, I recognize that half the psychology department is HYDRA, and therefore, you don’t trust Wells enough to talk to her. That said, I don’t think you should stop having therapy. Therefore, every other week we’re unofficially going to have a session.”

Skye took a breath. “If that’s what has to happen,” she responded softly. “I guess I don’t have much choice.”

“We just don’t want to see you hurt, Skye, in any way,” he clarified. “This is going to be hard and stressful. We just don’t want to see you hurting when you don’t need to be. We’re all going to need to check in with each other over the next few months while we take these Nazis down. We just want to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“That’s fine,” Skye agreed, nodding.

“After we clear Hunter, we need to clear Fury and Hill,” Natasha noted. “Once we’re sure that they’re not HYDRA, that should help.”

“I can’t get access to their files,” Skye declared. “I mean, I  _ could _ , but not without alerting Fury, and possibly Pierce.”

“I have a way in,” Clint offered. “And if we can clear Hunter he’ll have a way to check on Fury through his SAS and MI5 connections. We’ll figure it out.”

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend passed more or less quietly. Skye managed to clear Hunter on Friday, which made them all collectively sigh with relief. Skye slept a lot over the holiday weekend, having been exhausted by her mostly-solo mission. Rumlow just couldn’t help much with the background checks. 

It wasn’t until Friday night that Skye realized that as much as she loved her parents, her parents loved her more. She had heard voices coming from the living room and crept over to check who it was. “I can’t lose her, Drew,” Māmā was saying quietly. Skye heard Māmā sniffing and her jaw dropped when she realized that her mother was crying. “We get her for a year and then the universe just takes her away from us? I can’t... “

“Everyone’s going to be keeping an eye on her,” Andrew reminded her Māmā. “But you have to let her do this. We have to let her fight. We’ll find a way to keep her safe.”

“She’s mine.” Māmā cried, awed. “When did that happen?”

“I’m pretty sure that happened the second you met her.”

“How do we tell her that we want to try for another without making her think we’re replacing her?”

Andrew laughed. “She’s pretty accepting Melinda. I’m pretty sure she’d be really happy when we tell her.”

“After HYDRA?” 

“After HYDRA,” he agreed, nodding. Skye smiled to herself. A baby brother or sister wouldn’t be so bad. She actually rather liked the idea.

They took Saturday off, lounging on the porch knowing that once they returned to Washington they’d have to look into Fury. Her parents kept glancing worriedly at her, and she let them because frankly she was just as scared as they were. Laura would routinely pass Cooper to Māmā to keep her mind off of things, but it didn’t help much.

After they returned home from the Homestead, Skye immediately received a message from Bobbi that she and Hunter hadn’t seen her in a while and wanted to meet up. Skye asked them over to the house Sunday afternoon. She kicked Māmā and Andrew out for an afternoon of golf while she prepped dinner for everyone who’d be fighting against HYDRA.

A knock came from the front door. Skye felt the gun inside the waist of her jeans and eyed up the stairs to the edge of the arrow Clint had trained at the door. She saw Hunter and Bobbi through the window, then opened the door and got them inside as quickly as possible without looking suspicious. She pressed a button on a bug sweeper which lit up blue. No bugs on them.

“Skye,” Bobbi said suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

“There’s an issue… within SHIELD.” Skye revealed. “SHIELD’s been infiltrated. How deeply, we don’t know.”

Bobbi gasped and took a step back, while Hunter tensed and cursed under his breath. “Who?” Bobbi whispered.

“An enemy we thought Steve Rogers destroyed,” Skye expanded, hesitant to say the name. “HYDRA.”

The name got pretty much the same reaction as ‘Voldemort’ did within  _ Harry Potter _ . “That’s ridiculous! That’s…” Hunter exploded. 

“That can’t be,” Bobbi denied.

“I have proof,” Skye pressed. “We’re still working out who is and who isn’t… I’ve had to clear people one by one and now… now the family’s clear.”

“The family…” Bobbi contemplated. Her eyes went wide suddenly. “You thought it was us. You thought we were…”

“I didn’t know,” Skye clarified. “Currently we’re investigating Fury. He has a few regular contacts coming out of Europe that seem kinda fishy.”

“And the others know?” Hunter asked.

Skye nodded. “It took less time to hack SHIELD than British Intelligence. I don’t have to be as careful about not being detected with SHIELD since I work in the Comms department.”

“We know,” Natasha confirmed from behind them. “The only reason why we trust you is Skye put us through the same background check she put you through.”

“You put us through a background check, little love?” Hunter asked, sounding hurt. 

“Had to,” Skye grunted. “You should count yourself lucky.”

“Lucky? This is lucky?” Hunter exploded.

“Skye couldn’t figure out if I was good or bad so she leveled a gun at my head,” Nat divulged.

“To be fair to me, I hadn’t slept in three days,” Skye admitted. “We’re doing this right before my finals. They had to deal with me right after midterms.”

For some reason, Bobbi pulled a face and she started laughing. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, it’s not really funny. It’s just… you’re bringing down one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in human history between college classes.”

“I don’t expect anything less.” Clint interjected, coming downstairs and grabbing a cookie. 

Skye swiped the cookie out of Clint’s hand and gave him a stern look. “I have chicken stew in the slow cooker,” Skye revealed. “I just started the bread maker, and there’s ice cream to go with those after.”

“So what else is new with you?” Bobbi asked Skye.

“Nothing much,” Skye shrugged. “Between everything going on at SHIELD and school, I barely have time for a life.”

“That’s not true,” Nat revealed with a knowing smile. “Skye’s been talking to a boy…”

“What?” Clint piped up, stiffening. “Who?”

Hunter frowned. “You’re seventeen!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Skye objected.

“Oh, so there is a boy,” Bobbi teased smiling. 

“He’s just a friend,” Skye blushed, rolling her eyes. “And not for nothing but my birthday is in less than a month. And then I’m a legal adult.”

“Who’s the boy?” Clint demanded.

“His name’s Trip,” Skye remarked. “But he’s just a friend.”

“Trip,” Bobbi marveled, looking at Nat. “Trip as in…?” Nat nodded wordlessly.

Skye frowned, a little confused. “Look, he’s just a guy I knew and I started talking to him to help me get more used to talking to guys socially. He’s going to be a SHIELD agent.”

“Do your parents know about this?” Hunter asked. “They can’t be okay with this.”

“They’re fine with it. Can we talk about something else?” Skye whined.

“He’s the one in the Air Force, right?” Bobbi asked. 

“A fly boy?” Hunter ground out, clearly on the edge of yelling again.

“Hey,” Skye snapped. “You don’t get any say in who I date!”

“He could be anyone,” Hunter argued. “He could be HYDRA.”

Skye blushed, hard. “I already checked,” she admitted. “I’m not proud of it, but there it is. I ran through the algorithms on Fury. Two files need to be looked at more in depth tonight. Then I’m meeting with him after the New Year.”

“We want to come,” Bobbi demanded, speaking for the group. “You shouldn’t do this alone.”

“Brock’s coming with me,” she explained. “Under the guise of appealing to Fury that I should be admitted to the Ops department early. The HYDRA bosses want me there.” Everyone looked upset. “We’re going to convince him to say no.”

Skye settled into explaining everything she knew so far about what was going on. Her parents came home halfway through the explanation.

“I don't trust you alone with Rumlow,” Māmā inputted, frowning. 

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Māmā,” Skye replied. “I’d bring him by, but I’m pretty sure Pierce would figure it out.”

“I could get near him without setting off anyone’s warning bells,” Hunter suggested. 

“Look,” Skye said. “It’s not that I don’t understand your anger, but remember where  _ I _ started. I was an angry, anti-SHIELD kid not that many years ago. Am I not trustworthy?”

“Of course you are, Skye. There was a reason for your anger.” Bobbi argued.

Skye sighed. “That’s Skye’s point, I think,” Natasha spoke up. “But just because Rumlow didn’t get the proper care due him doesn’t give us to be careful with you.”

“This is the best move for us to make,” Skye pointed out. “I know what I’m doing.”

“She’s gotten us this far,” Clint argued.

Hunter sighed. “Okay… let’s go over this one more time.”

~~~~~~~~~

Skye sped through her finals, barely thinking about them. She didn’t ace all of her tests, but she certainly got straight As for her second college semester. After her last final, she packed up her dorm in record time and sped home. She was required to pack up everything so that University could come in, search the room, and clean it. Skye had to make sure nothing SHIELD-related was in the dorm room, since civilians were going to be in her room. She was tired, and since her parents were both SHIELD, Fury himself informed Skye he didn’t want to see her or see an alert that she was on the servers for at least a week after finals. 

She started dinner in the slow cooker, started her laundry, then felt the nervous energy sink in. Not allowed on the servers, she remembered an old corkboard in Andrew’s office that he never used. She pulled it into the living room and carefully replaced a painting Māmā and Andrew had gotten in Beijing with the corkboard. After that, she started working on charting out HYDRA’s operations using pushpins, notecards, and post-its. She hardly heard the door open a few hours later. Unsure of the time, she slipped the taser she kept on her person at all times these days out from under the pillow next to her before throwing herself into a roll and standing up while simultaneously aiming it and firing.

Māmā narrowly avoided being hit with the prongs. “You’re getting better,” she grinned. “What’s all this?”

“I was bored and I’m not allowed to check out any more agents this week so I decided to attack things from the other side,” Skye sassed, thinking hard.

“Skye…”

“Something’s bugging me and I can’t figure out what,” Skye interrupted. 

“You’ve got a huge gap between Pierce and what you’ve labelled ‘high level agents’,” Māmā noted. 

“Yeah, but there’s something… off…” Skye expanded, remembering something. She took off running for her bedroom, Māmā calling after her, worried. She grabbed the book she was looking for then rushed back down looking for the page she needed.

“Isn’t that that book on Captain America we got you because you kept checking it out of the library? The super-dry one with all the Army reports they could get declassified in it?”

“The heads of HYDRA,” Skye declared.

“Right, then Schmidt, now Pierce.”

“No, that’s wrong,” Skye realized, staring at the board. “They were wrong. The HYDRA spy that Steve Rogers caught reportedly said ‘cut off one head, two more will take its place’. The whole organization is based off of the Greek mythology of a multi-headed serpent.”

“I'm lost…” Māmā noted. 

Skye peeled off five cards and posted them on the board, level with Pierce. “The heads of HYDRA.”

“Why so many?”

Skye opened the book to an image of HYDRA’s symbol. “Six heads. I doubt it's a coincidence.”

“I don't know, Skye,” Māmā mused slowly. “Schmidt doesn't seem the type that would share.”

“There has to be a reason. The rest of it fits.”

“How did Schmidt start HYDRA?”

“No one knows for sure. This was before intelligence gathering, so all we have is speculation. There are a few stories that do little more than guess how he started it, but nothing else that I can find. I'm not exactly a historian though.”

“Yet you know more about HYDRA and Captain America than anyone I've ever met.” Māmā sighed. “Five more heads?”

“I suggest we start looking at the WSO, the UN, and other world leaders,” Skye pointed out. 

“No,” Māmā denied. 

“No?” Skye asked.

“You’re gonna go upstairs and pack a bag. We’re leaving for Hawaii tomorrow.”

Skye went up to her room and pulled a letter out of her pocket. She’d been carrying it around since she’d gotten it a week ago, so it was already starting to look worn down. Still, she couldn’t help but smile when, by habit, she started to read. 

_ Dear Skye,  _

_ I can’t believe you managed to ship us all that stuff! You have to tell me how you managed to convince them to let beer through, let alone how you bought it. Actually, no. Don’t. I don’t want to know. It was probably illegal. Anyway, the guys are so thrilled that I know you now that they’re asking me for requests for my next care package from you. I had to tell them the 50 state specialty thing was a one-time deal (the Zabar’s bagels kept surprisingly well), and normally it’s like every other care package (also, where did you find those socks? I want to order more of them but they never come in a package or have tags), The guys are also really happy that you included all that coffee. Like I’m sharing with them. _

_ Not much to report over here, not that I could if there was. I’m just glad that you’re safe over there and you’re too young to be an Agent of SHIELD quite yet. I hope you like what I got you. Merry Christmas, Skye. The best gift I got this year was your letters. Like always I can’t talk much about what I’m doing here, but you make me so thankful that you always write to me with news from home. It makes the homesickness not so bad.  _

_ I confess there’s another reason why I wanted to write to you this time. I wanted to write to you before I lost my nerve, but I was hoping that maybe we could go out some time after I get back. I’ve got a year left of deployment, so you have time to get used to the idea. If you don’t want to, I’ll understand, but if you do, I hope that you’ll hang onto these for me, in addition to your gift. They’re just a copy, but I hope that you’ll wear them to keep you safe. _

_ Yours always, _

_ Trip _

Skye looked down at the afghani sweets, the keychain made from an afghani coin, that now held her keys, and smiled. The copy of Trip’s dog tags that he’d sent her were now worn around her neck. She didn’t tell anyone, mostly because she didn’t want anyone to read into it something that it wasn’t. She didn’t know how to describe what was going on between her and Trip, but she wanted to explore where it was going for herself. One thing she knew, if she was going to figure this out, she was going to have to practice on a few more people.

Still, she couldn’t help but think that maybe this was what it was supposed to feel like. The warm gooey feeling. Like butter.

Māmā banned all technology other than cameras from the trip, even caving to Skye’s request that she be permitted to go explore the island on her own as a bribe. So while Māmā and Andrew primarily stayed at the resort, Skye hiked, took photos of landscapes and wildlife, learned pieces of pidgin, learned to surf, and, most importantly, got to wear Trip’s dog tags every day, even while in a bikini. Each afternoon she was expected back at the hotel by 4:30 so that they could change and go somewhere for dinner.

She started every morning with a hike. Her favorite was the Koko Head Stairs, a mountain with railroad ties up it. She did it twice one morning. The view was amazing and the workout was fantastic. She sent Clint several of the shots via the secret server she had set up via her smartphone -  _ that _ she was allowed to keep. It was the vacation Skye desperately needed without realizing it. 

The last day they were there was Christmas Day. Skye’s parents had somehow smuggled a bunch of gifts to Hawaii for Skye to open, including, shockingly, a brand new computer with a full 10 GB of RAM that Fitz, apparently, had souped up. The smaller gifts were a year subscription to various streaming services and an iTunes gift card. She had made everyone scarves, except for Trip who’d gotten a scarf and socks. Skye regretted the fact that they had to go back home to HYDRA, but she knew it wasn’t really a choice. She wanted her family safe.

That’s why she found herself on December 28th standing with Brock in front of Fury. “I’ve read your proposal, Agent Rumlow. The answer is no,” Fury insisted. Skye very subtly turned on her bug disrupter. Any listening or recording devices in the room would hear a high-pitched noise instead.

“I figured it would be,” Brock agreed easily. “That’s not why we came here.”

Fury looked up for the first time and saw both of their faces. He hit several keys on his keyboard and Skye’s device registered several recording devices being turned off. Skye left the bug disrupter on just to be on the safe side.

“What’s wrong?” Fury asked.

“Five months ago I was approached by a junior agent about joining a rogue group of people who worked within SHIELD towards very different goals. Once I learned who the group was, I said that I’d join just so that I could determine how deep the infestation went and if any of my family was a part of it,” Skye announced.

Fury looked upset and Skye didn’t blame him. She took a breath, then continued the story. “I’ve cleared everyone in the family so far, and identified a number of agents who are involved, with Agent Rumlow’s assistance.”

“You’re involved in this?” Fury asked, looking angry.

Rumlow nodded. “I was recruited not long after I joined SHIELD.”

“Half the psychology department are recruiters,” Skye cut in, defending Brock.

“What organization is this exactly?” Fury was losing his patience, Skye could tell. Her instinct was to cower, but she refused to back down. Silently, she thanked Nat for the lessons in faking that she was fine.

“HYDRA,” Skye breathed quietly. Fury stared at her, clearly shocked.

“That… isn’t possible…” he scoffed, shaking his head

“Māmā, Bobbi, Nat, Clint, and Hunter are working on a tactical plan to execute. I’m not going to be allowed to be at SHIELD when it goes down.” Skye stopped to roll her eyes at this. “But I’ve been running algorithms on who might be HYDRA based on associations.”

“Do you know who’s in charge?”

“It’s Pierce,” Skye revealed. “At least, he’s one of them. We think there are five others. I’ve also identified 183 people that I suspect to be HYDRA.”

“Only 183?” Fury asked.

“It’s an exponential model. SHIELD has 70,000 employees and I’ve only have a gigabyte of RAM working on it.”

“We have servers here…” Fury noted.  

Skye shook her head. “I’m not risking HYDRA getting wise to the idea of what we’re going to do.”

“That’s incredibly smart and well thought out,” Fury noted. “Maybe you  _ should _ be an agent.”

“I’m fine with waiting until I have my degree, sir. Like everyone else. I don’t want an exception made for me just because of who my family is.”

Fury moved around the desk. “If we were under any other circumstances, Rumlow, I’d kill you where you stand for what you’re telling me.”

“And I’d let you,” Rumlow agreed.

“As much as I’d love to see you guys hashing this out,” Skye interjected. “I have to go before my presence starts to look suspicious to HYDRA. As far as they should be concerned, Rumlow made the request for me to become an agent and you said no, furthering my ties to HYDRA when Pierce comes and offers me Agent status within HYDRA.” 

“Thank you. I hadn’t put that together, since it was my first day in the spy business.” Skye took a step back. Fury as clearly upset, and despite the last year, Skye was still afraid of him. Fury sighed heavily as Rumlow took a step in front of Skye protectively. “I apologize. I need some time to think.”

Skye nodded and left the room; Brock was right behind her.

She spent the next two weeks adjusting to her new classes. For her third semester, she was taking her final religion and philosophy classes. The rest of her classes were for her Computer Science major and she was contemplating a second major in International Affairs.

For certain, she was due to graduate in spring of 2008. In Comms, she continued to work on basic data analysis and processing, leaving upper-level agents free to work on several important missions that were happening. One in particular interested Skye - Clint and Nat as ‘STRIKE Team Delta’. Cameron, the cute, geeky Level 3 Comms agent who worked three desks down from her was assigned as the Junior Agent, which made his month. Skye suspected he had a bit of a celebrity crush on Natasha, which motivated him to work extra hard. It was Cameron who saved the day when the initial extraction got blown. Cameron immediately and instinctively worked out a secondary extraction point, and got Clint and Nat out so fast the other agents didn’t even react before Nat and Clint had already followed Cameron’s directions and had made the extraction.

Skye didn’t hear about anything until she came in for her afternoon shift. Everyone was celebrating and Cameron was the hero of the hour.

“Skye!” Cameron greeted with a huge smile. He’d definitely had a shot or two. His smile was wide and his eyes were slightly unfocused. He wasn’t slurring and he walked straight, so Skye knew he wasn’t actually drunk. “Did you hear about what happened? I got to run an extraction all by myself!” 

“Congratulations!” Skye exclaimed genuinely, smiling as she sat at her station. “I assume the mission was successful and I’ve got data to process?”

“Yup! Boatloads of it against a new group calling itself AIM,” Cameron gloated.

“Guess I’ll be busy for a few days,” Skye teased, smiling.

“You have fun with that,” Cameron laughed. He paused. “But if you have a free evening coming up… I was wondering if you maybe wanted to have drinks after a shift.”

Skye stopped typing her logins to the various systems she used. “Coffee?” she asked. “Next week Thursday?”

“Sure!” Cameron seemed surprised that she’d agreed. 

Skye herself couldn’t believe that she said yes. But she was also worried about whether she liked Trip just because he paid attention to her. She resolved to try other dates out and see how she felt about people who wanted to spend time with her other than Trip or her family.

As it turned out, she enjoyed spending time with Cameron. She enjoyed his company. He was funny and smart and on paper they were a match made in heaven, but with Trip there’d been a spark - something at that first meeting. There was… mystery. Skye wanted to know more about him. With Cameron… he was an open book. She knew him, probably better than he knew himself. A relationship with Cameron didn’t push her. And as much as she wanted to stay in her comfort zone and stay in Comms, she knew that kind of thing wouldn’t be healthy. Knowing that Cameron could never hurt her would never push her to relearn to trust people. She knew that her Dad would let her off the hook. That they’d be ok if that was what she wanted for herself, but it wasn’t. She wanted more. 

After going out with him a couple times, she had an honest conversation with him about it and Cameron agreed to remain friends. It was awkward at first, but they eventually got past it. They then all settled in to their year. 

New Year’s came and went and before Skye knew it, her birthday arrived. Her eighteenth. She was an adult, and no one could ever take her away from her family again. Since Skye had class and work on her actual birthday, she had a quiet dinner with her parents the night before. She figured that was it until the end of Gauntlet practice the next Saturday. She was gathering her things and organizing her gym bag, headed out to go put in some range time when she turned around and saw Nat with a blindfold in her hands.

“What?” Skye asked, taking a nervous step back.

“Relax,” Natasha coached. 

“Is this a test?” Skye asked.

About half the members of the Gauntlet pulled out money and exchanged it with the other half of the members. Skye noted Izzy was grinning as Vicky handed over cash.

“You could consider it a test. Call it a preliminary evaluation on navigation techniques, but really we’re just going to your party.” Skye couldn’t help but stare. She’d never had a birthday party before. 

Skye was blindfolded and led to a car. The others talked to her, at least, while they drove. They arrived somewhere around the Navy yard, Skye wasn’t exactly sure. But, when they took off the blindfold, she was met with a huge crowd of people facing her and smiling, “Surprise!”

Skye smiled, stomping down on her urge to cry. “Hey guys,” she giggled.

“Happy Birthday, Skye,” Jemma greeted, coming forward and hugging her.

Skye squealed when she spotted the person behind Jemma. “Jo!” she cried.

“Hey Skye,” Jo chorused, coming forward. “Happy eighteenth! Thanks for the invite.” 

“I wish I could take credit,” Skye mocked with a grin and looking around. There had to be at  _ least _ a hundred people in the giant warehouse they were in.  

There seemed to be an odd mix of activities, from a giant adult-sized bounce house to darts to some kind of obstacle course and Skye suspected that Clint and Nat and Brock were behind making up for lost time. Two people who weren’t present were her parents, but Skye understood why. There were at least three confirmed members of HYDRA in attendance and they were trying to sell that Māmā and Andrew were her parents on paper only. 

The party was the most fun Skye’d had in a long time. After a few hours of food and cake and activities, most of the party went home, though Fitz, Jemma, Jack Rollins, Brock, Clint, and Nat remained behind. Skye and Brock exchanged a look and Skye knew they were ready to flip Rollins. Brock and Fitz, meanwhile, had spent a good portion of the party making eyes at each other until Natasha locked them both in a closet. Fitz came out again fifteen minutes later looking thoroughly stunned.

“We should get going,” Jemma excused herself and Fitz. “Early shifts tomorrow.”

“Thanks so much for coming,” Skye offered happily.

“We’ll do lunch some time?” Jemma asked. “They miss you back at SciTech.”

“Yeah, sure,” Skye effused. “Spring break?”

“Sounds good,” Jemma agreed. “Jack, we’re still on for next Friday, right?”

“Of course,” Jack quipped. “Whatever you desire.”

Despite it being an obvious joke, Jemma blushed furiously.

“Thanks for the car, Fitz,” Skye praised. “It’s amazing.”

“My pleasure. Thanks for the project,” Fitz noted.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?” she confirmed.

They cleaned in silence for a little while after the pair left then Skye stopped, pulled out the bug jammer she kept on her at all times now, and turned it on. Skye looked at Nat, then Brock who both nodded. 

“We know you’re HYDRA Jack, and we know why,” Skye declared softly.

Jack immediately stiffened. “Skye, what are you…”

“They know. I told them.”

“Skye!”

“Jemma’s not going to join HYDRA, Rollins. Are you going to just let them kill her?” Natasha interjected.

“They won’t kill her. I can help her understand,” Jack argued.

“Jack,  _ you _ don’t even like being HYDRA. You only joined because your supposed friends wanted you to,” Skye tried.

“Yeah? And why’d you join?” Jack spat. “I swear, when Pierce hears about…”

“I needed to find out how deep it went,” Skye interrupted. “SHIELD is my family. I wanted to save them any trauma it might cause.”

“Oh, what do you know about trauma,” Rollins snapped. 

Skye paled. “Excuse me,” she snapped, taking off outside and around the back to hide.

“I’ll go after her,” Nat confirmed.

Brock and Clint nodded, then turned and faced Jack. “Brock, you can’t be serious. After all we’ve been through? After everything we’ve seen?”

“Skye’s seen more,” Brock insisted.

“Are you kidding me?” Jack burst out. “She’s a kid! She’s eighteen.”

“She’s seen more,” Clint confirmed.

“She’s not the only one who goes through foster care at SHIELD, guys.”

“She was kidnapped by a rogue SHIELD agent when she was an infant and put in the foster system with a hidden protocol that made sure she routinely moved placements.” Clint revealed.

Jack froze. “Wait… really?” He looked at his friend who nodded sadly. “How many houses…”

“Twenty-five in fifteen years,” Brock revealed. “Twelve of those ended with her in the hospital. More were at the very least neglectful.”

“I’m amazed how well she’s recovered from it,” Clint noted. “She’s worlds better than she was when she found her. I’ll never get her out of my head looking like that. I still have nightmares about it.”

“Oh come on,” Jack drawled in exasperation, rolling his eyes.

“Jack, just listen,” Brock pled.

“Three years ago, today, I came home from a mission to to find a girl in my bed,” Clint explained. “She was skin and bones, had been beaten up a little, and was pretty seriously ill. It’s been three years and the most I’ve heard her say about how she ended up on the street was that it was safer there than where she came from. Safer where she was starving and could have  _ died _ .”

“The foster family?” Jack asked, almost fearing to know.

Clint shrugged. “Nice couple, the wife was sick. They hadn’t even had a foster kid complain about them before. We don’t know if it was them or someone else… But she was sobbing in her sleep every night. She was convinced she was too stupid for school when she’s a literal genius. She was petrified of men, even Fitz. It took me a year before she stopped flinching every time I stood up. Skye knows trauma. Imagine what HYDRA would do with a girl like that. They’d rip her open so that they could use her. We have a chance to end HYDRA. Don’t you want a chance to be free?”

~~~~~~~~~

Skye sniffed as she heard Nat’s near-silent stride approach her. “When I was…” Skye looked down, rather ashamed of herself. “When I was a kid… probably four or so… the foster dad would punish us by locking us in this closet in the basement. He was clever about it. We never missed school and any time a social worker came by, we were upstairs like nothing was wrong. There was this one time when I dropped my juice cup and a little bit spilled on the linoleum… he didn’t let me out for three days. The next foster house I was in, had this really awesome TV room in the basement and the family did movie nights on the weekend… they only tried to get me to go down once.”

“I take it it didn’t go over well?” Nat asked, sitting down next to her.

“I was screaming bloody murder by the second step down…” Skye disclosed quietly. “I never told them why. I never told anyone why. After that… by the time you guys found me… it wasn’t like I hadn’t experienced good homes. I had. But most of the time the parents realized that I was too broken and didn’t want to put in the effort. There was only  _ one _ home where the parents really tried to help me. I was nine… it was the placement before… the thing at foster camp… It was the first time I felt like I was accepted for who I was. Even the broken parts. And the last time, before I came here. People just wrote me off as too much to handle, then turned around and said it couldn’t have been that bad.”

Natasha nodded in comprehension. “When I first came to SHIELD, I had a similar experience,” she shared. “The Red Room… they make weapons out of children. You lose pieces of your humanity. They tear them off of you. I was injured badly and Clint just picked me up and dragged me to his extraction point. I could handle them putting me in a prison cell, but the second a doctor came in… doctors in the Red Room weren’t there to make you healthier. They were there to make you better.”

Skye nodded in understanding. “People suck,” she spat succinctly.

Natasha gave a rare laugh. “That’s very true. People do suck. Is that why you were so upset tonight?” Natasha understood that even though she’d been adopted, there was a piece of Skye who would always be an orphan, just like there was a piece of Nat who’d be part of the Red Room.

Skye carefully considered her answer. “It’s been four years… there are still nights that I can feel his hands on me… still nights I wake up crying from the nightmares. I want to act my age. I want to be just like every other eighteen-year-old. I want to go out clubbing and not see danger in the corners, or track the exits, or be unconsciously figuring out how to take out whomever I’m talking to.”

“That stuff’s underrated. More people should do that stuff. Is there any other reason why you might be upset about what Rollins said?”

Skye sighed. “You want to know about why I ran from foster care,” Skye concluded.

“You’ve never mentioned it,” Natasha noted.

“What if I told Dr. Wells?” Skye asked. Natasha gave her a  _ look _ . Skye remembered Natasha knew she wasn’t talking to Wells at this point. “Okay, right…” she sighed. “Can you promise… can you promise you won’t tell anyone.”

Natasha shifted. “Skye…” she protested.

“Nat,” Skye pled in a small, high voice. “Please?”

Natasha finally nodded. “Fine,” she agreed. Skye sat still for a few moments, then curled into herself and whimpered once. Natasha’s eyes went wide and she rushed forward. “Skye?”

“He… he…. His wife was dying. Cystic Fibrosis. They were one of those weird families that was pretty anti-modern society. Lived in the country, women belonged in the home, men were the breadwinners, home schooled the foster kids… I helped take care of everyone, more or less. But suddenly there were fewer and fewer kids at home. They told me it was because she was getting sicker…”

Natasha stiffened. “She wasn’t?”

Skye drew to herself even further. “They… uh… I was really stupid,” she cried. “I wanted… I wanted to think that they were good people. I wanted to think…” she stopped and took a breath, not looking at Natasha. “They wanted me to be his wife. They… uh… they stopped… they stopped letting me learn… They started teaching me how to be… his second wife. How to keep house. How to take care of her.”

“And more?”

Skye wordlessly nodded, still not looking at Nat. She whimpered for a second. “They wanted to have kids… but she was so sick…” Natasha didn’t react, but Skye didn’t look at her. “They didn’t… they were just talking about teaching me… I ran before they could…” Skye stayed silent as she finished her confession. 

“You know if either of your parents tried anything I’d take care of it, right?” Nat reassured her quietly. Skye nodded.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha takes things into her own hands, finds Lumley, and pisses off Skye. Skye, meanwhile, learns to let something go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't posted in a while, because life happens... so here you go.
> 
> Warning: Sexual/Medical violence regarding revenge. If you want to skip it, skip down to the "————"

For the first time in her post-’Red Room’ life, Natasha Romanov did not consider her next target to be red in her ledger. She had to admit to herself that she’d been incredulous about Skye in the beginning. She’d recognized a kindred spirit, but did not think it was wise for Skye to work at SHIELD. For the first two months, Natasha waited for Skye to lash out. 

She’d only shared her concerns with Fury, who’d noted them, but still allowed Agents May and Garner to take Skye home. Natasha remembered her own rescue, unsure of the world, expecting anyone and everyone to attack her. It had taken her years before she was able to truthfully relax.

But after a couple of weeks, she realized that she could give Skye power back. The young girl had never been taught how to defend herself, either physically or emotionally. So Natasha had set to teaching Skye everything that she knew. How to manipulate others, how to fight, how to hide, how to run. Natasha was teaching her everything so that even if Skye didn’t become an agent, she’d still have the skills to survive.

Skye had surprised her, though. Natasha had never met someone so resilient. Skye was bouncing back from her traumas far quicker than she expected. She was trusting them more than Natasha honestly trusted anyone. Truthfully, Skye was teaching Natasha how to trust others. Before Skye came along, Natasha had maintained working relationships with pretty much everyone in SHIELD, with the exception of Clint. She had convinced herself that she didn’t need anyone and didn’t want anyone in her life. 

Then Skye came along and she worked her way into everyone’s hearts and at some point when Nat wasn’t looking that she’d found what she had always needed: she had gained a family apart from SHIELD. Something she could fight for. Something she could lose. And it wasn’t red in her ledger to defend that.

“You on-mission?” Clint asked, bringing Natasha out of her thoughts.

She turned to where her go-bag was packed on her bed. “Sort of.”

“You’re not going to tell me? Your own partner?”

“It’s personal,” Natasha admitted softly.

“Is everything okay with you?” Clint looked concerned. 

Natasha swept her quarters for bugs daily, so there was no fear of anyone listening in on their conversation. “I want to track down the team that brought Skye from Hunan. There’s three people unaccounted for. Bobbi and I are going to go find them.”

“Why are you taking Bobbi and not me?”

“Because we’re the best assets in SHIELD, idiot,” Natasha chastised, rolling her eyes. For some reason, Clint liked making her explain things. “If we both go, something’s wrong. If I take Bobbi, I’m taking a level 3 agent who needs training.”

“I guess you have a fair point,” Clint agreed. “I just… worry about Skye.”

“I know. We all are. But I’ve taught her everything I could in three years. It’s going to count for something. That training isn’t in her file; someone might underestimate her.”

“We could send her away…” Clint noted. ‘Away’ was their code for the Homestead.

Natasha shook her head. “She’s an adult. She should be allowed to be here. Be trusted. Be an agent. Otherwise, what have we been training her for?”

“This is different,” Clint argued. Natasha sighed. It was not the first time they’d had this argument. “This is serious. This is  _ HYDRA _ .”

“I know,” Natasha agreed. “But this isn’t the girl you found on your mattress three years ago any more.”

“So the mission has something to do with her intake form?”

Natasha nodded. “Shouldn’t take long.”

“Fury has you listed as doing something else?”

“Doesn’t he always?”

The next day, Nat and Bobbi took transport to Alfred, New York. “So why are we here?” Bobbi asked, clearly confused. “Who lives here?”

“David Yates,” Natasha noted.

“I don’t remember that being a name on the list of the names of agents…”

“Yates isn’t and never has been an agent of any kind.”

“Then why are we -”

Nat sighed, long and heavy.”You have to promise not to tell anyone about this.”

“Nat, if you’re going rogue…”

Nat detailed for Bobbi what Skye had told her and Bobbi’s face went dead.

“I’m in,” Bobbi affirmed. “What’s the play? How do you normally do this? How do you normally do something like this?”

“Well it depends on his answers to a few of my questions. Think you can follow my lead?”

“For Skye? Always.”

Natasha and Bobbi went up to the house and knocked. The man who opened the door was middle-aged, fat, and unshaven, smelling truly disgusting. “Yeah?” he growled.

“David Yates?” Nat asked “You were the foster father for a Mary Sue Poots?”

The man’s face changed. “Where is she?” he asked tone and facial expression full of fake concern.

“Why do you ask?” Bobbi asked.

David looked between the two women. “We wanted to adopt her,” the man simpered. “My wife and I. But she ran away. S-she’s not… dead, is she?”

Bobbi rushed in, gripped David by the neck, and pushed him back into the house. “ _ She _ isn’t your business,” Bobbi growled.

“David?” came a shaky voice. 

“Don’t come out here Linda,” David called. Nat closed the front door and went straight for the sound of the voice, dragging out a thin woman on oxygen. “Don’t you touch her!” David roared. 

“I’m going to explain what’s going to happen,” Natasha growled. “And why.” Bobbi realized how so many people could be terrified of the Black Widow. Natasha looked rather terrifying in that moment.

“What is all this about?” Linda asked.

David struggled against Bobbi’s grip so Bobbi cold-cocked him then cuffed him to a chair. Linda was too weak for them to need to tie up, so they sat her on the couch. “This is about Mary Sue. Don’t lie. I know what you did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” David denied. “That girl is a liar. We’ve tried our best with her but-” The man then screamed as Natasha pressed on an exposed nerve bundle. Did no damage, was undetectable, but was excruciating. 

“Stop!” Linda cried. “Stop and I’ll tell you what we did.” Natasha released the pressure, staring at Linda. “We wanted a baby. We wanted a baby and I didn’t care how we did it. So we found Mary Sue… and we started to... “

“You started training her for sexual abuse,” Bobbi hissed icily. 

“One morning we just woke up and she was gone…” Linda sobbed. “Please understand. I was born with Cystic Fibrosis. I was dying and we always wanted kids. My husband lost perspective. I tried looking for her again, but…”

Natasha glared. “You know how we found her? She was starving. Dying in an abandoned apartment. It took her three  _ years _ to tell anyone about you two. About the hell you put her through. That’s how  _ scared _ she was of you. You took away one of the few things she had left. So we’re going to do something about that.”

“Please… don’t hurt us,” Linda whimpered. “Mary Sue already made it so we can’t foster any more. We’re already paying for it.” This was news to Bobbi but not to Natasha. Skye had tracked them down electronically at some point and gave them both long records of prostitution while simultaneously removing their current foster license. 

“Neither of us are going to hurt you,” Natasha cautioned.

“Seriously?” Bobbi asked, looking at Nat.

“You just won’t be able to have kids at all after we’re done with you,” Natasha declared. Pulling out the syringe of Progesterex, a drug that would make Linda sterile. “Circumstances with your husband are a bit different. Our methods of ensuring he never has kids are slightly more… painful.”

————

“Did it always go like that?” Bobbi asked. After ensuring Linda Yates would never have what she always wanted, Natasha and Bobbi had injected them with enough sedation that she’d sleep for a couple of days and would awaken with no memory of Bobbi or Natasha. The pair then headed for St. Louis, where one of her leads had originated. 

“Before?” Nat asked. Bobbi nodded. “No. Most of my targets while I was working for the Red Room weren’t justified. They were often good people who were just enemies of the Red Room. They stood in the way or were an inconvenience. Then when I was on my own, it was whoever was paying my bills. This… wasn’t that.”

“This is peace of mind,” Bobbi noted. “For us.”

They had given David a vasectomy without any anesthetic. While he was gagged to not draw attention, he was in a tremendous amount of pain the entire time, which had helped Bobbi feel like there was justice for Skye. Conversely, Natasha seemed relaxed that it was done and that David and Linda Yates would never have kids. With both of them now sterile and with no memory of how it happened. “Yes,” Natasha agreed.

“So what’s next?” Bobbi asked.

“We’re going to Mexico. A few weeks ago I sent word to several of my contacts in various countries that we were looking for Richard Lumley. I gave age and description… my contact in Mexico contacted me a few days ago and told me there was a possible match to the description in Mahahual, Mexico, near Belize.”

“How do you have contacts who could find one person in a small town?” Bobbi asked, confused. “I’ve never even heard of Mahahual… who would think to look there?”

Natasha smiled for a minute, then spoke. “I have a network of contacts through various organized crime enterprises. Most of them I met when they were low-level and I was working for myself.”

“Mob guys? Seriously?”

“The Kkangpae, the Bratva, the Yakuza, the Triad… they’ve saved lives more than once.”

“They know you’re SHIELD now? And they don’t care?” Bobbi was impressed.

“When I came in, Fury accepted the fact that I couldn’t out everyone I have contact with. Some of the people that I have contact with are bad guys and some of them are good, but all of them are informants.”

“Alright then,” Bobbi agreed. “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t long before they were near Mahahual; Bobbi and Nat bought and dressed in clothes that allowed them to blend in. It took them three days before Bobbi spotted Lumley. 

Bobbi moved to get up from the cafe where they were drinking their five thousandth cup of coffee during that trip when Natasha stopped her. Bobbi glared daggers into Natasha, but Natasha told her in Portuguese. “Lumley apparently has a history of being paranoid. We need to be careful in how we approach him.”

Bobbi saw later that Natasha was right. Lumley had chosen an apartment that was impossible to infiltrate without a lot of work and a little noise. Both which would cause Lumley to run. The next day though, they got lucky. Lumley turned down an alley and they were able to corner him. Lumley’s face flickered in recognition. “Oh thank god, Agent Romanov. It’s you. You’re with SHIELD.”

“We are,” Bobbi grumbled angrily.

Lumley sombered. “This is about the baby girl…”

“Why are you running? You’re in dereliction of duty, Agent,” Natasha insisted, itching to use her bites.

“Do you know what happened to the rest of my team? Something eviscerated them. After that mission… we were all getting picked off one by one. So Linda took the baby and hid her. I never heard from her again. We were supposed to meet up in Tijuana. After about a week, I had to move on.”

“She’s dead,” Bobbi spat. 

Lumley closed his eyes. “We were sent as backup to a team in Hunan Province in China. An Agent called in an 0-8-4. He said the entire village had died trying to protect it. Avery and I were just fresh out of the Academy. And there were five of us just running the back end, until we lost communications with the first team. We went searching. We found the senior agent under a bridge. He – he managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the neck, but he bled out. He was still holding on to the 0-8-4.”

“The baby girl,” Natasha clarified. “We saw the file.”

“We hid her in the System. Made sure she couldn’t stay in one place. Kept her moving. Kept her safe,” Lumley revealed.

“You kept her abused,” Bobbi revealed coldly. 

Lumley stared at her in shock. “You found her again?” 

“You sentenced that baby to a fate we wouldn’t give the most hardened criminals,” Bobbi recounted hatefully.

“Are you taking me in?” Lumley asked.

“We can’t right now,” Natasha intimidated. “Rest assured if we ever find you again, we will. You violated everything SHIELD is by doing what you did. We’re not even officially here.”

“Then a bit of advice?” Lumley added. “Stop digging, and stay the hell away from that girl. Cause wherever she goes, death follows.”

Bobbi bolted forward and shoved Lumley into the wall behind him. “You don’t get to talk about her ever again,” she shouted. “You don’t know the first thing about her.”

“She’s back?” Lumley asked, flabbergasted. 

“She’s eighteen, a genius, and an Agent of SHIELD.”

“You’re sentencing yourselves to death,” Lumley breathed. “She’s going to end up getting you killed.”

“Death owes me a favor or three,” Natasha jested smugly. “And for her, I’d cash in in a heartbeat.”

To throw off anyone, including Lumley who might be following them, they paid a man to ferry them to Jamaica, then island-hopped up to Florida before grabbing a SHIELD transport back to DC. Before leaving Jamaica, Bobbi took a walk, alone on the beach. 

“You okay?” she heard Natasha ask. 

Bobbi smiled. “I made you when I left the motel.”

“Good,” Natasha praised. “Answer the question.”

“‘Death follows her’,” Bobbi repeated.

“Bobbi, you can’t…” Natasha started, but Bobbi immediately shook her head. 

“My thing is… what happens when death finds her?”

“Then we’ll face it together.”

“Natasha, whatever it was… whatever it was took an entire SHIELD team out. At one time. It could have been what took Skye’s village out. Are we sure that we can protect her from a force like that? And what would happen to her if whatever it was that killed those agents kills all of us? Where would Skye be then? Having lost her family twice?”

“It won’t come to that,” Natasha insisted.

“We don’t know that. Skye’s an adult now. And she’s not hiding any more.”

“We can have her delete her history as a precaution. We make sure she can defend herself. And once the HYDRA thing is taken care of we’ll have an entire spy agency that we can use.”

“We’ll talk to Skye then, when we get back. I just feel helpless. They never identified what was after Skye or if it was after Skye. We can’t defeat what we can’t see.”

“There are steps that can be taken. But we haven’t seen any sign of anything nefarious. So I think we should worry about the problem at hand first.”

“Okay, right,” Bobbi agreed, taking a breath. “How are we on that?”

“We have plans for each base,” Nat revealed quietly. “We’re thinking the last day of Skye’s finals. She doesn’t have anything scheduled, but campus will be pretty empty and she can keep pretty safe. Hunter’s given her an escape route just in case. We’ve vetted Georgetown’s security team. They know she carries multiple weapons just in case. She’s prepared.”

“It’s funny…” Bobbi noted. “I can’t help but feel like things aren’t going to end well for Skye. Like this all is a lot bigger than we’re thinking. Something seems… ominous about this whole thing.”

“I know what you mean,” Natasha concurred. Her gut had been churning since Skye had told her what had been happening with SHIELD and HYDRA, and now finding out about Skye’s background. It would have taken a great deal of skill and strength for HYDRA to integrate with SHIELD so thoroughly. It could have even been integrating with SHIELD from the beginning.”

Natasha was late for her workout with Skye, so she came into the gym running.

Skye was standing in the middle of an empty gym, looking furious. “Skye?” Natasha asked carefully.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Skye started, clearly fuming. “I trusted you with that information. I thought you were my friend.”

“Skye, I thought I was helping you,” Natasha lamented, brow furrowed. 

“I didn’t ask for your help,” Skye snapped. “I had it handled.” Natasha stared at Skye, honestly lost for words. “Did you ever stop and think that I was still watching them? Making sure they didn’t hurt another kid?”

“I didn’t think-” Natasha started, feeling the beginnings of shame as heat crept up her face.

“That’s right, you didn’t,” Skye hissed. “I trusted you with that information because I thought you’d think things through. That you’d research before going off half-cocked into the situation. Which you not only did, but you told Bobbi my secret. Something I haven’t been able to tell Māmā and Dad yet.” Skye was shaking and Natasha took a step forward to comfort her. Skye took a step back, her hands out. “The Yates weren’t even the worst of it. I thought I could trust you. I thought you were the one I could talk to without you looking at me like I’m broken, without you thinking that you needed to fight some vendetta on my behalf. I thought wrong.”

“Skye…” Natasha felt awful, but she wasn’t sure how to apologize. 

“I thought you’d understand they were red in my ledger,” Skye revealed softly.  Natasha took a step forward. Skye jerked back and Nat’s eyes went wide. “Stay away from me Natasha,” Skye snapped sharply. “Don’t expect to see me at Gauntlet practice.”

It was her fury that motivated Skye to train harder, all by herself. Her life solely became school, training, and tracking HYDRA over the next couple of weeks. While she eventually returned to Gauntlet training, she kept Nat at arm’s length. After a few weeks of Skye ignoring Natasha, and the rest of her family noticing it, Rumlow confronted her about it.

“Is everything okay with you?” he asked in concern while she worked the punching bag as he held it.

“Peachy,” Skye growled. 

“Then why won’t you look Romanov in the eye?”

“I’m fine,” Skye responded.

“I didn’t ask you if you were fine,” Rumlow murmured in concern. “I asked you if everything is okay between you and Romanov.”

Skye stopped punching the bag. “It’s personal,” she maintained quietly.

“I think you should talk about it. If not with me, with someone.”

The next day, Skye found herself on her parents’ couch, angrily shouting at her Dad about it. “... and Clint’s going to take her side because it’s been ‘Clint and Nat’ from day one and I’m just a kid to them who doesn’t know better. But I  _ do _ know better. I’m trying so hard to put everything behind me and Nat isn’t helping by taking it upon herself to exact revenge on my behalf like I couldn’t do it if I wanted to.”

Andrew blinked at her for a moment. “Would you mind… expanding on that?”

Skye sighed heavily. “It’s going to come out either way,” she noted, then told Andrew about her stay at the Yates household. Embarrassingly, she’d ended up crying over it, and Andrew, carefully projecting his movements, had embraced her to comfort her. “I don’t want to have to keep revisiting every placement I ever went through that ended badly,” she sniffed. “It’s in the past. Why can’t it stay there? I’m here. I’m… I’m home and I’m safe.”

“Of course you’re home,” Andrew confirmed softly. “This will always be your home. You’re home and safe and loved.” 

Skye frowned, feeling the anger, protectiveness, and regret practically rolling off Andrew despite his words. She’d always been good at reading others’ emotions around her, even though she didn’t always understand the loyalty she seemed to inspire. “I know that,” Skye insisted. “I know I’m safe now. And I get people… harming others if I were in danger but why did Nat have to hurt them when I was out of their lives? I’ve got a program monitoring their search history, hospital records, and other things. They’re not going to hurt anyone else. I just want to put it behind me.” She paused before adding, “I don’t want to be afraid that if I tell you guys about a bad placement one of you will go off and risk prison in some kind of revenge quest.”

Andrew sighed. “That’s fair… but, and just hear me out, Nat didn’t do what she did just because of revenge. She did it out of love, and if I can harbor a guess, she did it because she didn’t want to see anyone else getting hurt. She didn’t want you to even have to worry about it. “

“But now I worry that she’s going to have to pay for it.”

“What if you gave your alerts to someone else in the family?” Andrew suggested. “Someone who isn’t going to make a snap judgement about one thing or another.”

“What, like Bobbi?” Skye actually hadn’t minded that it had been Bobbi Nat had told. She trusted that Bobbi wouldn’t have acted had she known that Skye didn’t want them to. 

“If Bobbi’s who you’d want to tell, that’s who you get to tell,” Andrew agreed. He paused again. “I think Melinda should know about this, Skye.” Skye looked down and silently nodded. “Do you want to be here when I tell her?” Skye shook her head, blushing. Andrew held her tighter. “That’s fine.”

Skye drove to Bobbi and Hunter’s that afternoon, just before her Māmā got home. She had called first, to make sure it was okay, but Bobbi and Hunter still looked a little surprised and confused to see her.

“Hey Skye,” Hunter greeted. “How are you doing?”

“I’m… I’m okay. I needed to talk to you guys about something… something not related to SHIELD.”

Bobbi hesitated. “Skye… can I tell Hunter?” she asked. Skye nodded and Bobbi turned to Hunter. “The mission I told you about. The one with Nat? It was Skye’s last foster parents. Skye was who’d they done it to.”

Hunter looked upset, then immediately went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of beer, and took a long pull from it. “Are you alright love?” he asked Skye.

Skye nodded. “I don’t… mind… that you know. Once I told Nat, on some level, I knew the family would find out. Though I am asking you guys to keep it in the family.”

“Of course love,” Hunter easily agreed.

Skye fumbled with the jump drive of her programs nervously. “I need you guys to do me a favor though…” she pulled out the drive and pressed it into Bobbi’s hand before she could lose her nerve. 

“Skye…” Bobbi asked curiously, staring at the object in her hand. “What…”

“There are four families I have tagged,” she explained, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously. “People who skirted the law or bribed their way out of trouble or…” she stopped and shuddered. “Four families that I tagged. If a flag is raised on any of their files based on my tagging, I get an alert, if two are raised… their actions have… consequences.”

“You’ve been policing the foster families that burned you but weren’t caught?” Bobbi asked in amazement.

Skye nodded. “But I… I need to get past all of this… I need to let it go. I need someone else to take it on who won’t…”

“You don’t want physical revenge,” Hunter concluded. “Even though they all could have each killed you?”

Skye shrugged. “I survived alright. Landed on my feet. Do I really need more?”

“You deserve more,” Hunter grumbled.

“Revenge won’t fix me. Revenge won’t prevent further action or consequences. My way… my way no one gets hurt. Of course, if they cross the line, they get digitally carpet bombed automatically and the cops will show up at their door and arrest them for borderline treasonous actions… but I need to let things go.” She sighed. “I’d like you to do it.”

Hunter stared at her in shock. “You want us to deal with this?”

“Please,” she begged. “Bobbi lived through foster care and you understand me. I can’t trust Clint and Nat with this after what she did, and I’m not letting Māmā and Dad near this unless I have to.”

Bobbi nodded. “Okay, we can do that,” reassured her. Bobbi hugged her a little and placed an arm around her in comfort. “We’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

“You’ll be alright, Skye,” Hunter added supportively. Skye couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t all going to be alright. 

“Thank you,” Skye breathed, trying desperately to hold herself together.

‘You have enough to deal with,” Hunter pointed out. “Let us handle this. We’ve got your back and I promise that no matter how mad I get, I won’t seek revenge.”

“I appreciate it,” Skye quipped, the tone of their conversation turning to something lighter. “Wouldn’t want to see you on the ‘/prorevenge’ subreddit, getting arrested.”

“Like they could arrest me,” Hunter bragged in jest.

With the matter of Skye’s past finally settled, she wrapped herself back up in work, school, taking down HYDRA. She was currently helping Director Fury by manually clearing teams of people he wanted at each base to secure the members of HYDRA. On one particular Wednesday afternoon, she was in the gym working the punching bag and refusing to even look at Natasha. With the room empty except for the two of them and Rumlow, Skye seriously considered ending her training early for the day. 

“Come on, Skye,” Rumlow growled. “Stop being so bull-headed. You haven’t talked to Romanov in almost a month. 

“It’s  _ none _ of your business, Brock,” Skye snapped.

“What the hell did she do to you?”

Skye sighed. “She took it upon herself to get revenge in a situation she knew nothing about.”

“I knew plenty,” Natasha responded from over by the treadmills.

“It wasn’t your business,” Skye shot back. 

“You  _ are _ my business,” Natasha shouted. 

“Hey! Hey!” Brock shouted. “Skye, I get that you’re upset about whatever’s going on, but this is what being a part of a family is.” Natasha was nodding in agreement as Brock continued. “Families are overprotective of each other.”

“But part of being a family is respecting each other’s wishes,” Skye shot back. “I told her it was taken care of. I didn’t want her getting involved and she completely ignored that just because she wanted to do what she wanted instead.”

"And part of it is forgiving them when emotions override judgement,” Brock argued calmly.

“I’d forgive her if she were actually sorry, but she hasn’t apologized and she’d do it again if she had the chance!”

“Have you asked her?”

Skye looked away. “No,” she admitted. “I just… It was this really personal secret. I hadn’t ever even told my therapist why I ran away from New York. And then she told Bobbi and Clint, so I was basically forced to tell everyone else. Mama will barely look at me.” Clint had admitted to her that Natasha had told him what had happened because she’d needed a sounding board. He apologized to her for the fact that her trust had been violated and her secret was out. 

“I am sorry, Skye,” Natasha apologized in a quiet, regretful voice. “I shouldn’t have violated your trust and I shouldn’t have acted without your consent.” 

Skye sighed then nodded, feeling a lot of the anger she felt drain out of her and suddenly feeling tired. “Let’s just… lets just get through this next bit and we can sit down and really… really talk.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye, with SHIELD's help, takes HYDRA down.

The taking down of the HYDRA element that had hidden itself within SHIELD was far more bureaucratic than Skye was expecting. Of course, this meant she had plenty to do, even though she wasn’t allowed to be at the Triskellion when it happened. With the date set (May 25), people confirmed to be loyal to SHIELD were being informed of HYDRA’s presence and the plan. Victoria and Izzy has been horrified to learn everything Skye had discovered when she and Natasha had told them under the guise of going out to lunch. 

“Are you sure?” Izzy asked, staring. 

“Tell me you’re kidding,” Victoria pleaded.

“Would I joke about something like this?” Skye asked hollowly.

“Good point,” Izzy agreed. “Sorry, this is just…”

“A lot,” Victoria concluded, slipping one hand into her wife’s. “But we’ll get through it, Iz.”

Most of the process Skye wasn’t a part of, since she was in the last month of the semester. Between everything that had happened, the year had really flown by. She had enough food to sequester herself in her room if she needed to, and she kept her emergency passport on her at all times, but she was still increasingly nervous as her finals week approached. She only had two finals, early in the week, but she had a paper due early Friday morning. She turned it in and promptly switched her computer to the security feeds, watching HYDRA being taken down.  

Skye focused on the cameras around Māmā first. She had the most basic job, coordinating with Maria Hill to make sure all the bases were covered with the right personnel. It was interesting to watch Māmā in her element. Computers displayed troop movements and turned green every time one base or another was secured. Three of the smaller buildings had already been secured. Maria was busy talking to various governments and the UN about what was occurring. Congress was already demanding that Fury come talk to them about what was going on. 

Skye soon switched to where her Dad was stationed in the Triskellion’s psych department. Everyone was already in handcuffs that should be. Skye personally felt a little vindictive. She hoped the HYDRA psychiatrists burned in hell for taking advantage of people who needed their help. Andrew didn’t look happy either, from the looks of things. Skye frowned when she saw that his hand was bandged in thick, white gauze. Dr. Wells looked stunned and hurt as her colleagues were being led away.

“Andrew, what in the world…” Dr. Wells started.

“There’ll be a meeting in three days to explain it,” her Dad voiced tiredly. 

Skye couldn’t wait until she got to go to her parents house, wishing she had taken them up on going there early. Natasha had been concerned that with no one else at home, Skye would be a target. Speaking of Natasha, Skye decided to scan through her friends who were leading operational teams to secure SHIELD buildings. Things were going… surprisingly smoothly. It had helped that HYDRA hadn’t seen anything coming. There were a few minor injuries on their side, and a couple major ones that HYDRA agents had accrued, but largely, everything was going well.

The next morning, Skye was happy when she received the all-clear from Fury. She’d had been holed up for over two days and she  _ really _ wanted to breathe fresh air and see sunlight. She didn’t carry much on her, besides the things that Nat, Clint, Hunter had drilled into her to carry - her fake passport, her storage locker key, her mace, her multi-tool, and a pair of flex cuffs. “Hey Patrick,” she greeted as she passed the front desk. “Got any mail for me? Any packages?”

“Yeah,” Patrick confirmed, giving her an easy smile. “Give me a sec and I’ll get it for you.”

Skye nodded and turned away, looking at the university brochures that had been put on a table. Suddenly she saw the gun in her peripheral vision and she dove away at the last minute. Completely unprepared, she immediately hit her panic button, then grabbed a university pen from the table and flung it at Patrick. It hit him square in the eye. Skye didn’t waste any time rushing him as Patrick started screaming in pain. Skye quickly disarmed him, pinned him, and bound him with the pair of flex cuffs. “Hail. HYDRA,” Patrick ground out. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Skye muttered, then knocked him out with a quick punch. After she confirmed Patrick didn’t have any cyanide capsules on him, she locked him in the package closet. She checked her phone and noted that she still had no messages from any of her family. She knew she had to run at this point. The rule was if she hadn’t heard from them within five minutes of hitting her panic button, she had to go to ground. 

If Patrick was HYDRA, it meant they knew she was the one who destroyed everything. She  _ had _ to go to ground. She bit her lip, wishing she could send word to her family that she was alive. She then slipped the GPS tracker off her wrist and tossed it on the counter next to her campus ID and her panic button, then pulled up her hood and took off. 

It took a few hours, since she was doubling back every half hour to make sure she had no tails, but she made it to the British Embassy. She only made one stop, to a locker she rented that no one, not even her parents, knew about. In it she kept a backpacking backpack so it’d look like she was a tourist on vacation in any travel hub in the world, enough clothes that she wouldn’t have to wash them for a month, a new burner phone and the Chinese passport she’d created herself and told no one about. It was all stuff that was off-grid from her SHIELD life, just in case. Inside five minutes, she had packed the bag, changed her hairstyle and clothes, and taken off. 

Luckily, most people were still glued to the televisions in public and were watching the coverage of the Director talking about HYDRA. Occasionally there was a report of a new high-profile person having been arrested. It wasn’t just the US, though they were the most infiltrated. Fifty-three countries in total, including the UK, had been infiltrated by HYDRA to some degree. 

Skye borrowed a computer at the Apple Store and hacked into HYDRA, noting the million dollar price on her head. The offer stated double would be paid if they captured her and returned her to the requester alive. She erased the logs of her entry, both within HYDRA and on the computer. She exited the store. She had to get off the street. She headed for the only place that SHIELD didn’t know she had access to.

“Skye!” called a voice. She looked up and saw Dan, a friend of Hunter’s who worked for the embassy that they had confirmed was not HYDRA. She had gone to the British Embassy, entered as a citizen using the passport Hunter had given her, and asked the receptionist to call down for him. “What are you doing here? What’s going on? It’s like Rome is burning, I swear.” 

“I need to get out of the country,” Skye whispered quietly. “But first I need a shower.”

“Wha-”

“It’s really best that you don’t know any more than that. Please?”

Dan looked at her grimly for a moment, then nodded, taking her to a women’s locker room. showered, then donned a wig that gave her straight, long locks and did her makeup the way Nat had shown her to make her look different and would make facial recognition harder to get a hit. 

Dan didn’t blink when she exited. “I’ve got you booked on the next flight out of here to Heathrow,” Dan explained. “I’ll take you in an embassy car, okay?”

Skye nodded nervously. She passed through airport security without issue, then caught the flight to London, not getting a wink of sleep on the way. After getting through customs and onto the streets of London, she changed wigs to the dirty blonde one (she looked awful, but safety was more important), changing her makeup again before getting on a train to Edinburgh. From Edinburgh she flew to Los Angeles. 

Over the course of her transit, she watched the world panic about neighbors and friends and family. She was panicking too, but in an entirely different way. She was wondering if everyone was safe. She found herself thinking about Trip. If Patrick had read her mail, he knew about Trip, which placed him in a rather precarious situation, but Skye had no way of warning him. Skye hated feeling so helpless, so powerless. 

She’d seen a brief mention that Coulson had arrested Ward while she was taking a train from Los Angeles to Chicago under one of her many fake identities that not even SHIELD knew about. Ward was currently on suicide watch within SHIELD because the only man who’d shown him any bit of kindness, John Garrett, had been killed. From what she could tell, Garrett really hadn’t been that kind to Ward, he just severely gaslit and manipulated Ward while abusing him in a different way than Ward had been used to. Ward had begged Coulson to kill him so profusely that Ward was in the psych ward under Andrew’s observation. Even though Skye didn’t want Ward anywhere near her, she still felt sympathy for him. They weren’t that different, she realized. Skye had luckily found the support she needed, rather than further abuse and manipulation. 

Once news of Ward’s affiliation with HYDRA reached Congress, Ward’s brother, Senator Christian Ward, demanded that he be turned over to US Authorities. Director Fury had met with Congress multiple times, and Congress was currently planning to go to a judge to try to compel SHIELD to turn him over.

Skye chewed her lip and silently apologized to Ward as she anonymously reached out to multiple news outlets and passed along Ward’s SHIELD intake records and psych reports while on a bus from Chicago to Des Moines. They revealed how evil Senator Christian Ward was and how Christian and his parents had severely abused Grant and his brother Thomas. It should prevent Ward from being delivered into his abuser’s hands. After that, she started hitchhiking her way to where she knew Clint’s house was. It was pretty late by the time she’d walked up the the farm. She’d been dropped off in town and it’d taken her an hour to walk there. The lights were all off when she finally walked up the driveway, so Skye curled up on the back porch, away from the road and watched news clips from the evening news. Senator Ward staunchly refuted the accusations and information, insisting it was a smear campaign. Thomas Ward, to Skye’s surprise, stepped forward and testified that it was true. That Grant had been beaten over and over again because Grant would always protect Thomas from Christian and their parents. That Christian was a psychopath who had pushed Grant past his breaking point. That the fire Grant had started that caused him to be sent to juvie had been because Christian was trying to kill Thomas. It didn’t take much time before the judge ruled in favor of SHIELD after talking with Grant, Thomas Ward, and Andrew.

Within SHIELD’s network, Skye saw that she’d been listed as missing, and everyone was on the lookout for her. Skye wanted to believe that it was safe to reveal she was safe, but if Patrick was HYDRA… there were plenty of places she hadn’t thought of. She could wait until Clint made it back to the family farm. 

\--------

It had been a long week. Skye was missing and many had abandoned their posts, but SHIELD as a whole held strong. Once things settled, they’d go out looking for Skye. May wasn’t sleeping too well these days and wouldn’t until her daughter was home safe, but hopefully it’d be worth it. She and Fury were currently sitting in on the CIA interrogation of Alexander Pierce. They were only supposed to be there to observe, but finally Fury lost his patience.

“You know this is just a formality,” Fury snapped. “We’ve got all the evidence we need for a conviction.”

Pierce laughed. “You don’t know what you have. This is a witch hunt.”

“We’ve got you on a security feed saying ‘Hail HYDRA’ forty-seven separate times,” Fury said. “We’ve got nearly a million emails between you and other HYDRA agents. And we found your secret cloud server with the HYDRA team movements in the field, and what they did.”

That made Pierce’s demeanor change. “You’re bluffing,” Pierce claimed, his mouth agape.

“You’re a traitor to the United States of America,” Fury growled. “I know you had six different plans on how to take over the world.”

“Because that’s what it’s going to take to save the world. I had it locked down. I planned for every contingency. It should have worked!” 

Fury smirked. “Every contingency except one,” Fury pointed out. “I have an eighteen-year-old genius hacker with a laptop and an authority problem.”

“Agent Skye,” Pierce concluded. “She was a double agent. I must say, using a minor… you have bigger balls than I’ve ever given you credit for. Especially given who she is.” May stiffened. “Ah yes, Agent May. You’ve been playing the role of Agent Skye’s mother, haven’t you? I’m guessing you care about her a lot more than you tried to make us think.”

“She’s my daughter,” May admitted, launching herself at Pierce. Fury held her back.

“She’s not,” Pierce growled. “She’s a monster. A thing. A tool to be used, for sure, but from the reports HYDRA received, she will destroy you if you don’t control her. Trust me, we’ve done this before.”

“What do you mean?” Fury asked.

“You should really ask Agent Romanov about her time in the Red Room and the people she associated with,” Pierce hinted. 

“The Red Room was HYDRA?” Fury asked.

“Cut off one head, two more will take its place,” Pierce recited. 

By the time they left Pierce’s interrogation room, both of them were rather rattled. With Skye missing in action, Congress demanding something new every day, and most of SHIELD busy with cleaning up from their internal battle with HYDRA, Melinda and Andrew went to bed each night in each other’s arms. Their only comfort was that Skye was safe and sticking to protocol, and Clint and Nat were out looking for her. All would be right with the world, it would just take a little time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of the first arc! I promise it's not the end of the story. I'm working on the next arc, Hope for the Hopeless, right now!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts, I love getting reviews.


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